Dairy composition with high-potency sweetener

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally to dairy compositions comprising non-caloric or low-caloric high-potency sweeteners and methods for making and using them. In particular, the present invention relates to different dairy compositions comprising at least one non-caloric or low-caloric natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener, at least one sweet taste improving composition, and a dairy product. The present invention also relates to dairy compositions and methods that can improve the tastes of non-caloric or low-caloric natural and/or synthetic, high-potency sweeteners by imparting a more sugar-like taste or characteristic. In particular, the dairy compositions and methods provide a more sugar-like temporal profile, including sweetness onset and sweetness linger, and/or a more sugar-like flavor profile.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/739,302, entitled “Natural High-PotencySweetener Compositions With Improved Temporal Profile And/Or FlavorProfile, Methods For Their Formulations, and Uses,” filed on Nov. 23,2005; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/739,124, entitled “SyntheticSweetener Compositions With Improved Temporal Profile And/Or FlavorProfile, Methods For Their Formulations, and Uses,” filed on Nov. 23,2005; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/805,209, entitled “NaturalHigh-Potency Tabletop Sweetener Compositions with Improved Temporaland/or Flavor Profiles, Methods for Their Formulation, and Uses,” filedon Jun. 19, 2006; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/805,216,entitled “Rebaudioside A Composition and Method for PurifyingRebaudioside A,” filed on Jun. 19, 2006. These applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a dairy compositioncomprising a high-potency sweetener composition with improved temporalprofile and/or flavor profile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Natural caloric sugars, such as sucrose, fructose, and glucose areutilized heavily in beverage, food, pharmaceutical, and oralhygienic/cosmetic industries due to their pleasant taste. In particular,sucrose imparts a desirable taste for consumers. Although sucroseprovides superior sweetness characteristics, it is caloric. Whilecalories are necessary for proper bodily functions, there is a need inthe market to provide alternative non-caloric or low-caloric sweetenerswith sugar-like taste for consumers with sedentary lifestyles or thosewho are calorie conscious. However, in general, non-caloric or lowcaloric sweeteners have associated undesirable tastes to consumers suchas delayed sweetness onset; lingering sweet aftertaste; bitter taste;metallic taste; astringent taste; cooling taste; licorice-like taste;and/or the like.

For example, the sweet tastes of natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweeteners are slower in onset and longer in duration than the sweettaste produced by sugar and thus change the taste balance of a foodcomposition. Because of these differences, use of a natural high-potencysweetener to replace a bulk sweetener, such as sugar, in a food orbeverage, causes an unbalanced temporal profile and/or flavor profile.In addition to the difference in temporal profile, high-potencysweeteners generally exhibit (i) lower maximal response than sugar, (ii)off tastes including bitter, metallic, cooling, astringent,licorice-like taste, etc., and/or (iii) sweetness which diminishes oniterative tasting. It is well known to those skilled in the art offood/beverage formulation that changing the sweetener in a compositionrequires re-balancing of the flavor and other taste components (e.g.,acidulants). If the taste profile of natural and synthetic high-potencysweeteners could be modified to impart specific desired tastecharacteristics to be more sugar-like, the type and variety ofcompositions that may be prepared with that sweetener would besignificantly expanded. Accordingly, it would be desirable toselectively modify the taste characteristics of natural and synthetichigh-potency sweeteners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally, this invention addresses the above described need byproviding a dairy composition having improved temporal profile and/orflavor profile and a method for improving the temporal profile and/orflavor profile for dairy compositions. In particular, this inventionimproves the temporal profile and/or flavor profile by imparting a moresugar-like temporal profile and/or flavor profile. More particularly,this invention comprises a dairy composition comprising a dairy product;at least one high-potency sweetener; and at least one sweet tasteimproving composition.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in thefollowing description, or may be obvious from the description, or may belearned through practice of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, alltechnical and scientific terms and abbreviations used herein have thesame meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the artto which this invention pertains. Although methods and compositionssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in practiceof the present invention, suitable methods and compositions aredescribed without intending that any such methods and compositions limitthe invention herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a powder x-ray diffraction scan of rebaudioside A polymorphForm 1 on a plot of the scattering intensity versus the scattering angle2θ in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a powder x-ray diffraction scan of rebaudioside A polymorphForm 2 on a plot of the scattering intensity versus the scattering angle2θ in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a powder x-ray diffraction scan of rebaudioside A polymorphForm 3A on a plot of the scattering intensity versus the scatteringangle 2θ in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a powder x-ray diffraction scan of rebaudioside A polymorphForm 3B on a plot of the scattering intensity versus the scatteringangle 2θ in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a powder x-ray diffraction scan of rebaudioside A polymorphForm 4 on a plot of the scattering intensity versus the scattering angle2θ in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to the presently profferedembodiments of the invention. Each example is provided by way ofexplanation of embodiments of the invention, not limitation of theinvention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and variations can be made in the presentinvention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.For instance, features illustrated or described as part of oneembodiment, can be used on another embodiment to yield a still furtherembodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover suchmodifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

Generally described, embodiments of the present invention provide dairycompositions comprising at least one natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener, at least one sweet taste improving composition,and a dairy product.

1. Dairy Products

Dairy products and processes for making dairy products suitable for usein this invention are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.Dairy products, as used herein, comprise milk or foodstuffs producedfrom milk. Non-limiting examples of dairy products suitable for use inembodiments of this invention include milk, milk cream, sour cream,crème fraiche, buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, milk powder, condensedmilk, evaporated milk, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese,yogurt, ice cream, frozen custard, frozen yogurt, gelato, via, piima,filmjölk, kajmak, kephir, viili, kumiss, airag, ice milk, casein, ayran,lassi, khoa, or combinations thereof.

Milk is a fluid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals for thenourishment of their young. The female ability to produce milk is one ofthe defining characteristics of mammals and provides the primary sourceof nutrition for newborns before they are able to digest more diversefoods. In particular embodiments of this invention, the dairy productsare derived from the raw milk of cows, goats, sheep, horses, donkeys,camels, water buffalo, yaks, reindeer, moose, or humans.

In particular embodiments of this invention, the processing of the dairyproduct from raw milk generally comprises the steps of pasteurizing,creaming, and homogenizing. Although raw milk may be consumed withoutpasteurization, it usually is pasteurized to destroy harmfulmicroorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts.Pasteurizing generally comprises heating the milk to a high temperaturefor a short period of time to substantially reduce the number ofmicroorganisms, thereby reducing the risk of disease.

Creaming traditionally follows pasteurization step, and involves theseparation of milk into a higher-fat cream layer and a lower-fat milklayer. Milk will separate into milk and cream layers upon standing fortwelve to twenty-four hours. The cream rises to the top of the milklayer and may be skimmed and used as a separate dairy product.Alternatively, centrifuges may be used to separate the cream from themilk. The remaining milk is classified according to the fat content ofthe milk, non-limiting examples of which include whole, 2%, 1%, and skimmilk.

After removing the desired amount of fat from the milk by creaming, milkis often homogenized. Homogenization prevents cream from separating fromthe milk and generally involves pumping the milk at high pressuresthrough narrow tubes in order to break up fat globules in the milk.Pasteurization, creaming, and homogenization of milk are common but arenot required to produce consumable dairy products. Accordingly, suitabledairy products for use in embodiments of this invention may undergo noprocessing steps, a single processing step, or combinations of theprocessing steps described herein. Suitable dairy products for use inembodiments of this invention may also undergo processing steps inaddition to or apart from the processing steps described herein.

Particular embodiments of this invention comprise dairy productsproduced from milk by additional processing steps. As described above,cream may be skimmed from the top of milk or separated from the milkusing machine-centrifuges. In a particular embodiment, the dairy productcomprises sour cream, a dairy product rich in fats that is obtained byfermenting cream using a bacterial culture. The bacteria produce lacticacid during fermentation, which sours and thickens the cream. In anotherparticular embodiment, the dairy product comprises crème fraiche, aheavy cream slightly soured with bacterial culture in a similar mannerto sour cream. Crème fraiche ordinarily is not as thick or as sour assour cream. In yet another particular embodiment, the dairy productcomprises cultured buttermilk, Cultured buttermilk is obtained by addingbacteria to milk. The resulting fermentation, in which the bacterialculture turns lactose into lactic acid, gives cultured buttermilk a sourtaste. Although it is produced in a different manner, culturedbuttermilk generally is similar to traditional buttermilk, which is aby-product of butter manufacture.

According to other particular embodiments of this invention, the dairyproducts comprise milk powder, condensed milk, evaporated milk, orcombinations thereof. Milk powder, condensed milk, and evaporated milkgenerally are produced by removing water from milk. In a particularembodiment, the dairy product comprises a milk powder comprising driedmilk solids with a low moisture content. In another particularembodiment, the dairy product comprises condensed milk. Condensed milkgenerally comprises milk with a reduced water content and addedsweetener, yielding a thick, sweet product with a long shelf-life. Inyet another particular embodiment, the dairy product comprisesevaporated milk. Evaporated milk generally comprises fresh, homogenizedmilk from which about 60% of the water has been removed, that has beenchilled, fortified with additives such as vitamins and stabilizers,packaged, and finally sterilized. According to another particularembodiment of this invention, the dairy product comprises a drycreamer/sweetener composition.

In another particular embodiment, the dairy product provided hereincomprises butter. Butter generally is made by churning fresh orfermented cream or milk. Butter generally comprises butterfatsurrounding small droplets comprising mostly water and milk proteins.The churning process damages the membranes surrounding the microscopicglobules of butterfat, allowing the milk fats to conjoin and to separatefrom the other parts of the cream. In yet another particular embodiment,the dairy product comprises buttermilk, which is the sour-tasting liquidremaining after producing butter from full-cream milk by the churningprocess.

In still another particular embodiment, the dairy product comprisescheese, a solid foodstuff produced by curdling milk using a combinationof rennet or rennet substitutes and acidification. Rennet, a naturalcomplex of enzymes produced in mammalian stomachs to digest milk, isused in cheese-making to curdle the milk, causing it to separate intosolids known as curds and liquids known as whey. Generally, rennet isobtained from the stomachs of young ruminants such as calves; however,alternative sources of rennet include some plants, microbial organisms,and genetically modified bacteria, fungus, or yeast. In addition, milkmay be coagulated by adding acid, such as citric acid. Generally, acombination of rennet and/or acidification is used to curdle the milk.After separating the milk into curds and whey, some cheeses are made bysimply draining, salting, and packaging the curds. For most cheeses,however, more processing is needed. Many different methods may be usedto produce the hundreds of available varieties of cheese. Processingmethods include heating the cheese, cutting it into small cubes todrain, salting, stretching, cheddaring, washing, molding, aging, andripening. Some cheeses, such as the blue cheeses, have additionalbacteria or molds introduced to them before or during aging, impartingflavor and aroma to the finished product. Cottage cheese is a cheesecurd product with a mild flavor that is drained but not pressed so thatsome whey remains. The curd is usually washed to remove acidity. Creamcheese is a soft, mild-tasting, white cheese with a high fat contentthat is produced by adding cream to milk and then curdling to form arich curd. Alternatively, cream cheese can be made from skim milk withcream added to the curd. It should be understood that cheese, as usedherein, comprises all solid foodstuff produced by the curdling milk.

In another particular embodiment of this invention, the dairy productcomprises yogurt. Yogurt generally is produced by the bacterialfermentation of milk. The fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid,which acts on proteins in milk to give the yogurt a gel-like texture andtartness. In particularly desirable embodiments, the yogurt may besweetened with a sweetener and/or flavored. Non-limiting examples offlavorings include, but are not limited to, fruits (e.g., peach,strawberry, banana), vanilla, and chocolate. Yogurt, as used herein,also includes yogurt varieties with different consistencies andviscosities, such as dahi, dadih or dadiah, labneh or labaneh,bulgarian, kefir, and matsoni. In another particular embodiment, thedairy product comprises a yogurt-based beverage, also known as drinkableyogurt or a yogurt smoothie. In particularly desirable embodiments, theyogurt-based beverage may comprise sweeteners, flavorings, otheringredients, or combinations thereof.

It is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art thatphytonutrients, plant extracts, and herbal compositions may be used intheir natural and/or modified form. Modified phytonutrients, plantextracts, and herbal compositions include phytonutrients, plantextracts, and herbal compositions which have been altered naturally. Forexample, a modified phytonutrient includes, but is not limited to,phytonutrients which have been fermented, contacted with enzyme, orderivatized or substituted on the phytonutrient. In one embodiment,modified phytonutrients may be used individually or in combination withunmodified phytonutrients. For the sake of brevity, however, in thedescription of embodiments of this invention, a modified phytonutrientis not described expressly as an alternative to an unmodifiedphytonutrient, but it should be understood that modified phytonutrientscan be substituted for or combined with phytonutrients in any embodimentdisclosed herein. The same embodiments would be applicable to plantextracts and other herbal compositions. Plant extracts include extractsfrom foliage, stems, bark, fruit, seed, and any other plant matter.

It is contemplated that other dairy products beyond those describedherein may be used in particular embodiments of this invention. Suchdairy products are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art,non-limiting examples of which include via, piima, filmjolk, kajmak,kephir, viili, kumiss, airag, ice milk, casein, ayran, lassi, and khoa.

According to particular embodiments of this invention, the dairycompositions also may comprise other additives. Non-limiting examples ofsuitable additives include sweeteners and flavorants such as chocolate,strawberry, and banana. Particular embodiments of the dairy compositionsprovided herein also may comprise additional nutritional supplementssuch as vitamins (e.g., vitamin D) and minerals (e.g., calcium) toimprove the nutritional composition of the milk.

In a particularly desirable embodiment, the dairy composition comprisesat least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener incombination with at least one sweet taste improving composition and adairy product. In a particular embodiment, the at least one naturaland/or synthetic high-potency sweetener is present in the dairycomposition in an amount in the range of about 200 to about 20,000weight percent of the dairy composition.

II. Sweetener Compositions

As described hereinabove, the dairy compositions comprise at least onenatural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener and at least one sweettaste improving composition. The combination of the at least one naturaland/or synthetic high-potency sweetener and at least one sweet tasteimproving composition, as used herein, comprises the “sweetenercomposition.” As used herein, dairy product is synonymous with a“sweetenable composition.” In addition, the combination of the sweetenercomposition and dairy product comprises a “sweetened composition.”

A. Natural High-Potency Sweeteners

Desirably, the sweetener composition comprises at least one naturaland/or synthetic high-potency sweetener. As used herein the phrases“natural high-potency sweetener”, “NHPS”, “NHPS composition”, and“natural high-potency sweetener compositions” are synonymous. “NHPS”means any sweetener found in nature which may be in raw, extracted,purified, or any other form, singularly or in combination thereof andcharacteristically have a sweetness potency greater than sucrose,fructose, or glucose, yet have less calories. Non-limiting examples ofNHPSs suitable for embodiments of this invention include rebaudioside A,rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E,rebaudioside F, dulcoside A, dulcoside B, rubusoside, stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener,siamenoside, monatin and its salts (monatin SS, RR, RS, SR), curculin,glycyrrhizic acid and its salts, thaumatin, monellin, mabinlin,brazzein, hernandulcin, phyllodulcin, glycyphyllin, phloridzin,trilobatin, baiyunoside, osladin, polypodoside A, pterocaryoside A,pterocaryoside B, mukurozioside, phlomisoside I, periandrin I,abrusoside A, and cyclocarioside I. NHPS also includes modified NHPSs.Modified NHPSs include NHPSs which have been altered naturally. Forexample, a modified NHPS includes, but is not limited to, NHPSs whichhave been fermented, contacted with enzyme, or derivatized orsubstituted on the NHPS. In one embodiment, at least one modified NHPSmay be used in combination with at least one NHPS. In anotherembodiment, at least one modified NHPS may be used without a NHPS. Thus,modified NHPSs may be substituted for a NHPS or may be used incombination with NHPSs for any of the embodiments described herein. Forthe sake of brevity, however, in the description of embodiments of thisinvention, a modified NHPS is not expressly described as an alternativeto an unmodified NHPS, but it should be understood that modified NHPSscan be substituted for NHPSs in any embodiment disclosed herein.

In one embodiment, extracts of a NHPS may be used in any puritypercentage. In another embodiment, when a NHPS is used as a non-extract,the purity of the NHPS may range for example from about 25% to about100%. According to other embodiments, the purity of the NHPS may rangefrom about 50% to about 100% from about 70% to about 100%; from about80% to about 100%; from about 90% to about 100%; from about 95% to about100%; from about 95% to about 99.5%; from about 96% to about 100%; fromabout 97% to about 100%; from about 98% to about 100%; and from about99% to about 100%.

Purity, as used here, represents the weight percentage of a respectiveNHPS compound present in a NHPS extract, in raw or purified form. In oneembodiment, a steviolglycoside extract comprises a particularsteviolglycoside in a particular purity, with the remainder of thestevioglycoside extract comprising a mixture of other steviolglycosides.

To obtain a particularly pure extract of a NHPS, such as rebaudioside A,it may be necessary to purify the crude extract to a substantially pureform. Such methods generally are known to those of ordinary skill in theart.

An exemplary method for purifying a NHPS, such as rebaudioside A, isdescribed in the co-pending patent application No. 60/805,216, entitled“Rebaudioside A Composition and Method for Purifying Rebaudioside A,”filed on Jun. 19, 2006, by inventors DuBois, et al., the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Briefly described, substantially pure rebaudioside A is crystallized ina single step from an aqueous organic solution comprising at least oneorganic solvent and water in an amount from about 10% to about 25% byweight, more particularly from about 15% to about 20% by weight. Organicsolvents desirably comprise alcohols, acetone, and acetonitile.Non-limiting examples of alcohols include ethanol, methanol, isopranol,1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, tert-butanol, and isobutanol.Desirably, the at least one organic solvent comprises a mixture ofethanol and methanol present in the aqueous organic solution in a weightratio ranging from about 20 parts to about 1 part ethanol to 1 partmethanol, more desirably from about 3 parts to about 1 part ethanol to 1part methanol.

Desirably, the weight ratio of the aqueous organic solvent and cruderebaudioside A ranges from about 10 to about 4 parts aqueous organicsolvent to 1 part crude rebaudioside A, more particularly from about 5to about 3 parts aqueous organic solvent to 1 part crude rebaudioside A.

In an exemplary embodiment, the method of purifying rebaudioside A iscarried out at approximately room temperature. In another embodiment,the method of purifying rebaudioside A further comprises the step ofheating the rebaudioside A solution to a temperature in a range fromabout 20° C. to about 40° C., or in another embodiment to a refluxtemperature, for about 0.25 hours to about 8 hours. In another exemplaryembodiment, wherein the method for purifying rebaudioside A comprisesthe step of heating the rebaudioside A solution, the method furthercomprises the step of cooling the rebaudioside A solution to atemperature in the range from about 4° C. to about 25° C. for about 0.5hours to about 24 hours.

According to particular embodiments, the purity of rebaudioside A mayrange from about 50% to about 100%; from about 70% to about 100%; fromabout 80% to about 100%; from about 90% to about 100%; from about 95% toabout 100%; from about 95% to about 99.5%; about 96% to about 100%; fromabout 97% to about 100%; from about 98% to about 100%; and from about99% to about 100%. According to particularly desirable embodiments, uponcrystallization of crude rebaudioside A, the substantially purerebaudioside A composition comprises rebaudioside A in a purity greaterthan about 95% by weight up to about 100% by weight on a dry basis. Inother exemplary embodiments, substantially pure rebaudioside A comprisespurity levels of rebaudioside A greater than about 97% up to about 100%rebaudioside A by weight on a dry basis, greater than about 98% up toabout 100% by weight on a dry basis, or greater than about 99% up toabout 100% by weight on a dry basis. The rebaudioside A solution duringthe single crystallization step may be stirred or unstirred.

In an exemplary embodiment, the method of purifying rebaudioside Afurther comprises the step of seeding (optional step) the rebaudioside Asolution at an appropriate temperature with high-purity crystals ofrebaudioside A sufficient to promote crystallization of the rebaudiosideA to form pure rebaudioside A. An amount of rebaudioside A sufficient topromote crystallization of substantially pure rebaudioside A comprisesan amount of rebaudioside A from about 0.0001% to about 1% by weight ofthe rebaudioside A present in the solution, more particularly from about0.01% to about 1% by weight. An appropriate temperature for the step ofseeding comprises a temperature in a range from about 18° C. to about35° C.

In another exemplary embodiment, the method of purifying rebaudioside Afurther comprises the steps of separating and washing the substantiallypure rebaudioside A composition. The substantially pure rebaudioside Acomposition may be separated from the aqueous organic solution by avariety of solid-liquid separation techniques that utilize centrifugalforce, that include, without limitation, vertical and horizontalperforated basket centrifuge, solid bowl centrifuge, decantercentrifuge, peeler type centrifuge, pusher type centrifuge, Heinkel typecentrifuge, disc stack centrifuge and cyclone separation. Additionally,separation may be enhanced by any of pressure, vacuum, and gravityfiltration methods, that include, without limitation, the use of belt,drum, nutsche type, leaf, plate, Rosenmund type, sparkler type, and bagfilters and filter press. Operation of the rebaudioside A solid-liquidseparation device may be continuous, semi-continuous or in batch mode.The substantially pure rebaudioside A composition also may be washed onthe separation device using various aqueous organic solvents andmixtures thereof. The substantially pure rebaudioside A composition canbe dried partially or totally on the separation device using any numberof gases, including, without limitation, nitrogen and argon, toevaporate residual liquid solvent. The substantially pure rebaudioside Acomposition may be removed automatically or manually from the separationdevice using liquids, gases or mechanical means by either dissolving thesolid or maintaining the solid form.

In still another exemplary embodiment, the method of purifyingrebaudioside A further comprises the step of drying the substantiallypure rebaudioside A composition using techniques well known to thoseskilled in the art, non-limiting examples of which include the use of arotary vacuum dryer, fluid bed dryer, rotary tunnel dryer, plate dryer,tray dryer, Nauta type dryer, spray dryer, flash dryer, micron dryer,pan dryer, high and low speed paddle dryer and microwave dryer. In anexemplary embodiment, the step of drying comprises drying thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition using a nitrogen or argonpurge to remove the residual solvent at a temperature in a range fromabout 40° C. to about 60° C. for about 5 hours to about 100 hours.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, wherein the crude rebaudioside Amixture comprises substantially no rebaudioside D impurity, the methodof purifying rebaudioside A further comprises the step of slurrying thecomposition of substantially pure rebaudioside A with an aqueous organicsolvent prior to the step of drying the substantially pure rebaudiosideA composition. The slurry is a mixture comprising a solid and an aqueousorganic or organic solvent, wherein the solid comprises thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition and is only sparinglysoluble in the aqueous organic or organic solvent. In an embodiment, thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition and aqueous organicsolvent are present in the slurry in a weight ratio ranging from about15 parts to 1 part aqueous organic solvent to 1 part substantially purerebaudioside A composition. In one embodiment, the slurry is maintainedat room temperature. In another embodiment, the step of slurryingcomprises heating the slurry to a temperature in a range from about 20°C. to about 40° C. The substantially pure rebaudioside A composition isslurried for about 0.5 hours to about 24 hours.

In still yet another exemplary embodiment, the method of purifyingrebaudioside A further comprises the steps of separating thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition from the aqueous organicor organic solvent of the slurry and washing the substantially purerebaudioside A composition followed by the step of drying thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition.

If further purification is desired, the method of purifying rebaudiosideA described herein may be repeated or the substantially purerebaudioside A composition may be purified further using an alternativepurification method, such as the column chromatography.

It also is contemplated that other NHPSs may be purified using thepurification method described herein, requiring only minorexperimentation that would be obvious to those of ordinary skill in theart.

The purification of rebaudioside A by crystallization as described aboveresults in the formation of at least three different polymorphs; Form 1:a rebaudioside A hydrate; Form 2: an anhydrous rebaudioside A; and Form3: a rebaudioside A solvate. In addition to the at least three polymorphforms of rebaudioside A, the purification of rebaudioside A may resultin the formation of an amorphous form of rebaudioside A, Form 4. Theaqueous organic solution and temperature of the purification processinfluence the resulting polymorph and amorphous forms in thesubstantially pure rebaudioside A composition. FIGS. 1-5 are exemplarypowder x-ray diffraction (XRPD) scans of the polymorph and amorphousforms of rebaudioside A: Form 1 (hydrate), Form 2 (anhydrate), Form 3A(methanol solvate), Form 3B (ethanol solvate), and Form 4 (amorphous),respectively. The material properties of the three rebaudioside Apolymorph and amorphous forms are summarized in the following table:

TABLE 1 Rebaudioside A Polymorph and Amorphous Forms Form 1 Form 2 Form3 Form 4 Polymorph Polymorph Polymorph Amorphous Rate of Very low Inter-High High dissolution (<0.2%/60 mediate (>30%/ (>35.0%/ in H2O atminutes) (<30%/5 5 minutes) 5 minutes) 25° C. minutes) Alcohol <0.5% <1%1–3% <0.05% content Moisture   >5% <1%  <3%  6.74% content

The type of polymorph formed is dependent on the composition of theaqueous organic solution, the temperature of the crystallization step,and the temperature during the drying step. Form 1 and Form 3 are formedduring the single crystallization step while Form 2 is formed during thedrying step after conversion from Form 1 or Form 3.

Low temperatures during the crystallization step, in the range of about20° C. to about 50° C., and a low ratio of water to the organic solventin the aqueous organic solvent results in the formation of Form 3. Hightemperatures during the crystallization step, in the range of about 50°C. to about 80° C., and a high ratio of water to the organic solvent inthe aqueous organic solvent results in the formation of the Form 1. Form1 can be converted to Form 3 by slurrying in an anhydrous solvent atroom temperature (2-16 hours) or at reflux for approximately (0.5-3hours). Form 3 can be converted to Form 1 by slurrying the polymorph inwater at room temperature for approximately 16 hours or at reflux forapproximately 2-3 hours. Form 3 can be converted to the Form 2 duringthe drying process; however, increasing either the drying temperatureabove 70° C. or the drying time of a substantially pure rebaudioside Acomposition can result in decomposition of the rebaudioside A andincrease the remaining rebaudioside B impurity in the substantially purerebaudioside A composition. Form 2 can be converted to Form 1 with theaddition of water.

Form 4 may be formed from Form 1, 2, 3, or combinations thereof, usingmethods well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Non-limitingexamples of such methods include melt-processing, ball milling,crystallization, lyophilization, cryo-grinding, and spray-drying. In aparticular embodiment, Form 4 can be prepared from a substantially purerebaudioside A composition obtained by the purification methodsdescribed hereinabove by spray-drying a solution of the substantiallypure rebaudioside A composition.

B. Synthetic High-Potency Sweeteners

As used herein, the phrase “synthetic sweetener” refers to anycompositions which are not found in nature and characteristically have asweetness potency greater than sucrose, fructose, or glucose, yet haveless calories. Non-limiting examples of synthetic sweeteners suitablefor embodiments of this invention include sucralose, potassiumacesulfame, aspartame, alitame, saccharin, neohesperidindihydrochalcone, cyclamate, neotame,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methylbutyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester, salts thereof, and the like.

C. Combinations of Natural and/or Synthetic High-Potency Sweeteners

The NHPS and synthetic sweeteners may be used individually or incombination with other NHPS and/or synthetic sweeteners. For example,the sweetener composition may comprise a single NHPS or a singlesynthetic sweetener; a single NHPS in combination with a singlesynthetic sweetener; one or more NHPSs in combination with a singlesynthetic sweetener; a single NHPS in combination with one or moresynthetic sweeteners; or one or more NHPSs in combination with one ormore synthetic sweeteners A plurality of natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweeteners may be used as long as the combined effect doesnot adversely affect the taste of the sweetener composition.

For example, particular embodiments comprise combinations of NHPSs, suchas steviolglycosides. Non-limiting examples of suitable stevioglycosideswhich may be combined include rebaudioside A, rebaudioside B,rebaudioside C, rebaudioside D, rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F,dulcoside A, dulcoside B, rubusoside, stevioside, or steviolbioside.According to particularly desirable embodiments of the presentinvention, the combination of high-potency sweeteners comprisesrebaudioside A in combination with rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C,rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, stevioside, steviolbioside, dulcoside A,or combinations thereof.

In another particular embodiment, rebaudioside B is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 1 to about 8 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 2 to about 5 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 2 to about 3weight percent.

In another particular embodiment, rebaudioside C is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 1 to about 10 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 3 to about 8 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 4 to about 6weight percent.

In still another particular embodiment, rebaudioside E is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.1 to about 4 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 0.1 to about 2 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 0.5 to about 1weight percent.

In still another particular embodiment, rebaudioside F is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.1 to about 4 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 0.1 to about 2 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 0.5 to about 1weight percent.

In still yet another particular embodiment, dulcoside A is present inthe combination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.1 to about 4 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 0.1 to about 2 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 0.5 to about 1weight percent.

In yet another particular embodiment, dulcoside B is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.1 to about 4 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 0.1 to about 2 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 0.5 to about 1weight percent.

In another particular embodiment, stevioside is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.5 to about 10 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 1 to about 6 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 1 to about 4weight percent.

In still another particular embodiment, steviolbioside is present in thecombination of high-potency sweeteners in an amount in the range ofabout 0.1 to about 4 weight percent of the combination of high-potencysweeteners, more desirably in the range of about 0.1 to about 2 weightpercent, and still more desirably in the range of about 0.5 to about 1weight percent.

According to a particularly desirable embodiment, the high-potencysweetener composition comprises a combination of rebaudioside A,stevioside, rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C, and rebaudioside F; whereinrebaudioside A is present in the combination of high-potency sweetenersin an amount in the range of about 75 to about 85 weight percent basedon the total weight of the combination of high-potency sweeteners,stevioside is present in an amount in the range of about 1 to about 6weight percent, rebaudioside B is present in an amount in the range ofabout 2 to about 5 weight percent, rebaudioside C is present in anamount in the range of about 3 to about 8 weight percent, andrebaudioside F is present in an amount in the range of about 0.1 toabout 2 weight percent.

In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate thatthe sweetener composition can be customized to obtain a desired caloriecontent. For example, a low-caloric or non-caloric NHPS may be combinedwith a caloric natural sweetener and/or other coloric additives toproduce a sweetener composition with a preferred calorie content.

III. Sweet Taste Improving Compositions

The sweetener composition also comprises a sweet taste improvingcomposition, non-limiting examples of which include carbohydrates,polyols, amino acids and their corresponding salts, polyamino acids andtheir corresponding salts, sugar acids and their corresponding salts,nucleotides, organic acids, inorganic acids, organic salts includingorganic acid salts and organic base salts, inorganic salts, bittercompounds, flavorants and flavoring ingredients, astringent compounds,proteins or protein hydrolysates, surfactants, emulsifiers, flavonoids,alcohols, polymers, other sweet taste improving taste additivesimparting such sugar-like characteristics, and combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a single sweet taste improving composition may beused in combination with a single natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener. In another embodiment of the present invention, a singlesweet taste improving composition may be used in combination with one ormore natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweeteners. In yet anotherembodiment, one or more sweet taste improving compositions may be usedin combination with a single natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener. In a further embodiment, there may be a plurality of sweettaste improving combinations used in combination with one or morenatural and/or synthetic high-potency sweeteners.

In a particular embodiment, combinations of at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener and at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition suppress, reduce, or eliminate undesirable taste and impartsugar-like characteristics to the sweetener composition. As used herein,the phrase “undesirable taste” includes any taste property which is notimparted by sugars, e.g. glucose, sucrose, fructose, or similarsaccharides. Non-limiting examples of undesirable tastes include delayedsweetness onset, lingering sweet aftertaste, metallic taste, bittertaste, cooling sensation taste or menthol-like taste, licorice-liketaste, and/or the like.

A. Sweet Taste

In one embodiment, a sweetener composition exhibits a more sugar-liketemporal and/or sugar-like flavor profile than a sweetener compositioncomprising at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,but without a sweet taste improving composition is provided. As usedherein, the phrases “sugar-like characteristic,” “sugar-like taste,”“sugar-like sweet,” “sugary,” and “sugar-like” are synonymous.Sugar-like characteristics include any characteristic similar to that ofsucrose and include, but are not limited to, maximal response, flavorprofile, temporal profile, adaptation behavior, mouthfeel,concentration/response function behavior, tastant and flavor/sweet tasteinteractions, spatial pattern selectivity, and temperature effects.These characteristics are dimensions in which the taste of sucrose isdifferent from the tastes of natural and synthetic high-potencysweeteners. Whether or not a characteristic is more sugar-like isdetermined by expert sensory panel assessments of sugar and compositionscomprising at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,both with and without a sweet taste improving composition. Suchassessments quantify similarities of the characteristics of compositionscomprising at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,both with and without a sweet taste improving composition, with thosecomprising sugar. Suitable procedures for determining whether acomposition has a more sugar-like taste are well known in the art.

In a particular embodiment, a panel of assessors is used to measure thereduction of sweetness linger. Briefly described, a panel of assessors(generally 8 to 12 individuals) is trained to evaluate sweetnessperception and measure sweetness at several time points from when thesample is initially taken into the mouth until 3 minutes after it hasbeen expectorated. Using statistical analysis, the results are comparedbetween samples containing additives and samples that do not containadditives. A decrease in score for a time point measured after thesample has cleared the mouth indicates there has been a reduction insweetness perception.

The panel of assessors may be trained using procedures well known tothose of ordinary skill in the art. In a particular embodiment, thepanel of assessors may be trained using the Spectrum™ DescriptiveAnalysis Method (Meilgaard et al, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, 3^(rd)edition, Chapter 11). Desirably, the focus of training should be therecognition of and the measure of the basic tastes; specifically, sweet.In order to ensure accuracy and reproducibility of results, eachassessor should repeat the measure of the reduction of sweetness lingerabout three to about five times per sample, taking at least a fiveminute break between each repetition and/or sample and rinsing well withwater to clear the mouth.

Generally, the method of measuring sweetness comprises taking a 10 mLsample into the mouth, holding the sample in the mouth for 5 seconds andgently swirling the sample in the mouth, rating the sweetness intensityperceived at 5 seconds, expectorating the sample (without swallowingfollowing expectorating the sample), rinsing with one mouthful of water(e.g., vigorously moving water in mouth as if with mouth wash) andexpectorating the rinse water, rating the sweetness intensity perceivedimmediately upon expectorating the rinse water, waiting 45 seconds and,while wating those 45 seconds, identifying the time of maximum perceivedsweetness intensity and rating the sweetness intensity at that time(moving the mouth normally and swallowing as needed), rating thesweetness intensity after another 10 seconds, rating the sweetnessintensity after another 60 seconds (cumulative 120 seconds after rinse),and rating the sweetness intensity after still another 60 seconds(cumulative 180 seconds after rinse). Between samples take a 5 minutebreak, rinsing well with water to clear the mouth.

B. Types of Sweet Taste Improving Compositions

As described hereinabove, sweet taste improving compositions includecarbohydrates, polyols, amino acids and their corresponding salts,polyamino acids and their corresponding salts, sugar acids and theircorresponding salts, nucleotides, organic acids, inorganic acids,organic salts including organic acid salts and organic base salts,inorganic salts, bitter compounds, flavorants and flavoring ingredients,astringent compounds, proteins or protein hydrolysates, surfactants,emulsifiers, flavonoids, alcohols, polymers, other sweet taste improvingtaste additives imparting such sugar-like characteristics, andcombinations thereof.

As used herein, the term “carbohydrate” generally refers to aldehyde orketone compounds substituted with multiple hydroxyl groups, of thegeneral formula (CH₂O)_(n), wherein n is 3-30, as well as theiroligomers and polymers. The carbohydrates of the present invention can,in addition, be substituted or deoxygenated at one or more positions.Carbohydrates, as used herein, encompass unmodified carbohydrates,carbohydrate derivatives, substituted carbohydrates, and modifiedcarbohydrates. As used herein, the phrases “carbohydrate derivatives”,“substituted carbohydrate”, and “modified carbohydrates” are synonymous.Modified carbohydrate means any carbohydrate wherein at least one atomhas been added, removed, substituted, or combinations thereof. Thus,carbohydrate derivatives or substituted carbohydrates includesubstituted and unsubstituted monosaccharides, disaccharides,oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. The carbohydrate derivatives orsubstituted carbohydrates optionally can be deoxygenated at anycorresponding C-position, and/or substituted with one or more moietiessuch as hydrogen, halogen, haloalkyl, carboxyl, acyl, acyloxy, amino,amido, carboxyl derivatives, alkylamino, dialkylamino, arylamino,alkoxy, aryloxy, nitro, cyano, sulfo, mercapto, imino, sulfonyl,sulfenyl, sulfinyl, sulfamoyl, carboalkoxy, carboxamido, phosphonyl,phosphinyl, phosphoryl, phosphino, thioester, thioether, oximino,hydrazino, carbamyl, phospho, phosphonato, or any other viablefunctional group provided the carbohydrate derivative or substitutedcarbohydrate functions to improve the sweet taste of the sweetenercomposition.

Non-limiting examples of carbohydrates in embodiments of this inventioninclude tagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g.,α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin(including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran,sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose,lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar,isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose,deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose,turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose,glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, and glucose syrup. Additionally, thecarbohydrates as used herein may be in either the D- or L-configuration.

The term “polyol”, as used herein, refers to a molecule that containsmore than one hydroxyl group. A polyol may be a diol, triol, or atetraol which contain 2, 3, and 4 hydroxyl groups, respectively. Apolyol also may contain more than four hydroxyl groups, such as apentaol, hexaol, heptaol, or the like, which contain, 5, 6, or 7hydroxyl groups, respectively. Additionally, a polyol also may be asugar alcohol, polyhydric alcohol, or polyalcohol which is a reducedform of carbohydrate, wherein the carbonyl group (aldehyde or ketone,reducing sugar) has been reduced to a primary or secondary hydroxylgroup.

Non-limiting examples of sweet taste improving polyol additives inembodiments of this invention include erythritol, maltitol, mannitol,sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt, propylene glycol,glycerol (glycerine), threitol, galactitol, palatinose, reducedisomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides, reducedgentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, reduced glucose syrup,and sugar alcohols or any other carbohydrates capable of being reducedwhich do not adversely affect the taste of the sweetener composition.

Suitable sweet taste improving amino acid additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to, asparticacid, arginine, glycine, glutamic acid, proline, threonine, theanine,cysteine, cystine, alanine, valine, tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine,asparagine, serine, lysine, histidine, ornithine, methionine, carnitine,aminobutyric acid (alpha-, beta-, or gamma-isomers), glutamine,hydroxyproline, taurine, norvaline, sarcosine, and their salt forms suchas sodium or potassium salts or acid salts. The sweet taste improvingamino acid additives also may be in the D- or L-configuration and in themono-, di-, or tri-form of the same or different amino acids.Additionally, the amino acids may be α-, β-, γ-, δ-, and ε-isomers ifappropriate. Combinations of the foregoing amino acids and theircorresponding salts (e.g., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium saltsor other alkali or alkaline earth metal salts thereof. or acid salts)also are suitable sweet taste improving additives in embodiments of thisinvention. The amino acids may be natural or synthetic. The amino acidsalso may be modified. Modified amino acids refers to any amino acidwherein at least one atom has been added, removed, substituted, orcombinations thereof (e.g., N-alkyl amino acid, N-acyl amino acid, orN-methyl amino acid). Non-limiting examples of modified amino acidsinclude amino acid derivatives such as trimethyl glycine,N-methyl-glycine, and N-methyl-alanine. As used herein, amino acidsencompass both modified and unmodified amino acids. As used herein,modified amino acid also may encompass peptides and polypeptides (e.g.,dipeptides, tripeptides, tetrapeptides, and pentapeptides) such asglutathione and L-alanyl-L-glutamine.

Suitable sweet taste improving polyamino acid additives includepoly-L-aspartic acid, poly-L-lysine (e.g., poly-L-α-lysine orpoly-L-ε-lysine), poly-L-ornithine (e.g., poly-L-α-ornithine orpoly-L-ε-ornithine), poly-L-arginine, other polymeric forms of aminoacids, and salt forms thereof (e.g., magnesium, calcium, potassium, orsodium salts such as L-glutamic acid mono sodium salt). The sweet tasteimproving polyamino acid additives also may be in the D- orL-configuration. Additionally, the polyamino acids may be α-, β-, γ-,δ-, and ε-isomers if appropriate. Combinations of the foregoingpolyamino acids and their corresponding salts (e.g., sodium, potassium,calcium, magnesium salts or other alkali or alkaline earth metal saltsthereof or acid salts) also are suitable sweet taste improving additivesin embodiments of this invention. The polyamino acids described hereinalso may comprise co-polymers of different amino acids. The polyaminoacids may be natural or synthetic. The polyamino acids also may bemodified, such that at least one atom has been added, removed,substituted, or combinations thereof (e.g., N-alkyl polyamino acid orN-acyl polyamino acid). As used herein, polyamino acids encompass bothmodified and unmodified polyamino acids. In accordance with particularembodiments, modified polyamino acids include, but are not limited topolyamino acids of various molecular weights (MW), such aspoly-L-α-lysine with a MW of 1,500, MW of 6,000, MW of 25,200, MW of63,000, MW of 83,000, or MW of 300,000.

Suitable sweet taste improving sugar acid additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to, aldonic,uronic, aldaric, alginic, gluconic, glucuronic, glucaric, galactaric,galacturonic, and their salts (e.g., sodium, potassium, calcium,magnesium salts or other physiologically acceptable salts), andcombinations thereof.

Suitable sweet taste improving nucleotide additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to, inosinemonophosphate (“IMP”), guanosine monophosphate (“GMP”), adenosinemonophosphate (“AMP”), cytosine monophosphate (CMP), uracilmonophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate, guanosine diphosphate,adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate, uracil diphosphate, inosinetriphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, cytosinetriphosphate, uracil triphosphate, and their alkali or alkaline earthmetal salts, and combinations thereof. The nucleotides described hereinalso may comprise nucleotide-related additives, such as nucleosides ornucleic acid bases (e.g., guanine, cytosine, adenine, thymine, uracil).

Suitable sweet taste improving organic acid additives include anycompound which comprises a —COOH moiety. Suitable sweet taste improvingorganic acid additives for use in embodiments of this invention include,but are not limited to, C2-C30 carboxylic acids, substituted hydroxylC1-C30 carboxylic acids, benzoic acid, substituted benzoic acids (e.g.2.4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), substituted cinnamic acids, hydroxyacids,substituted hydroxybenzoic acids, substituted cyclohexyl carboxylicacids, tannic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, gluconicacid, glucoheptonic acids, adipic acid, hydroxycitric acid, malic acid,fruitaric acid (a blend of malic, fumaric, and tartaric acids), fumaricacid, maleic acid, succinic acid, chlorogenic acid, salicylic acid,creatine, glucosamine hydrochloride, glucono delta lactone, caffeicacid, bile acids, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, alginic acid, erythorbicacid, polyglutamic acid, and their alkali or alkaline earth metal saltderivatives thereof. In addition, the sweet taste improving organic acidadditives also may be in either the D- or L-configuration.

Suitable sweet taste improving organic acid salt additives include, butare not limited to, sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium salts ofall organic acids, such as salts of citric acid, malic acid, tartaricacid, fumaric acid, lactic acid (e.g., sodium lactate), alginic acid(e.g., sodium alginate), ascorbic acid (e.g., sodium ascorbate), benzoicacid (e.g., sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate), and adipic acid. Theexamples of the sweet taste improving organic acid salt additivesdescribed optionally may be substituted with one or more of thefollowing moiety selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl,alkenyl, alkynyl, halo, haloalkyl, carboxyl, acyl, acyloxy, amino,amido, carboxyl derivatives, alkylamino, dialkylamino, arylamino,alkoxy, aryloxy, nitro, cyano, sulfo, thiol, imine, sulfonyl, sulfenyl,sulfinyl, sulfamyl, carboxalkoxy, carboxamido, phosphonyl, phosphinyl,phosphoryl, phosphino, thioester, thioether, anhydride, oximino,hydrazino, carbamyl, phospho, phosphonato, and any other viablefunctional group, provided the substituted organic acid salt additivefunctions to improve the sweet taste of the sweetener composition.

Suitable sweet taste improving inorganic acid additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to,phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, polyphosphoric acid, hydrochloricacid, sulfuric acid, carbonic acid, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, andtheir corresponding alkali or alkaline earth metal salts thereof (e.g.,inositol hexaphosphate Mg/Ca).

Suitable sweet taste improving bitter compound additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to, caffeine,quinine, urea, bitter orange oil, naringin, quassia, and salts thereof.

Suitable sweet taste improving flavorant and flavoring ingredientadditives for use in embodiments of this invention include, but are notlimited to, vanillin, vanilla extract, mango extract, cinnamon, citrus,coconut, ginger, viridiflorol, almond, menthol (including mentholwithout mint), grape skin extract, and grape seed extract. “Flavorant”and “flavoring ingredient”are synonymous, and include natural orsynthetic substances or combinations thereof. Flavorants also includeany other substance which imparts flavor, and may include natural ornon-natural (synthetic) substances which are safe for human or animalswhen used in a generally accepted range. Non-limiting examples ofproprietary flavorants include Döhler™ Natural Flavoring SweetnessEnhancer K14323 (Döhler™, Darmstadt, Germany), Symrise™ Natural FlavorMask for Sweeteners 161453 and 164126 (Symrise, Holzminden™, Germany),Natural Advantage™ Bitterness Blockers 1, 2, 9 and 10 (NaturalAdvantage™, Freehold, N.J., U.S.A.), and Sucramask™ (Creative ResearchManagement, Stockton, Calif., U.S.A.).

Suitable sweet taste improving polymer additives for use in embodimentsof this invention include, but are not limited to, chitosan, pectin,pectic, pectinic, polyuronic, polygalacturonic acid, starch, foodhydrocolloid or crude extracts thereof (e.g., gum acacia senegal(Fibergum™), gum acacia seyal, carageenan), poly-L-lysine (e.g.,poly-L-α-lysine or poly-L-ε-lysine), poly-L-ornithine (e.g.,poly-L-α-ornithine or poly-L-ε-ornithine), polyarginine, polypropyleneglycol, polyethylene glycol, poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether),polyaspartic acid, polyglutamic acid, polyethyleneimine, alginic acid,sodium alginate, propylene glycol alginate, sodium hexametaphosphate(SHMP) and its salts, and sodium polyethyleneglycolalginate and othercationic and anionic polymers.

Suitable sweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysate additivesfor use in embodiments of this invention include, but are not limitedto, bovine serum albumin (BSA), whey protein (including fractions orconcentrates thereof such as 90% instant whey protein isolate, 34% wheyprotein, 50% hydrolyzed whey protein, and 80% whey protein concentrate),soluble rice protein, soy protein, protein isolates, proteinhydrolysates, reaction products of protein hydrolysates, glycoproteins,and/or proteoglycans containing amino acids (e.g., glycine, alanine,serine, threonine, asparagine, glutamine, arginine, valine, isoleucine,leucine, norvaline, methionine, proline, tyrosine, hydroxyproline, andthe like), collagen (e.g., gelatin), partially hydrolyzed collagen(e.g., hydrolyzed fish collagen), and collagen hydrolysates (e.g.,porcine collagen hydrolysate).

Suitable sweet taste improving surfactant additives for use inembodiments of this invention include, but are not limited to,polysorbates (e.g., polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (polysorbate80), polysorbate 20, polysorbate 60), sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate,dioctyl sulfosuccinate or dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium, sodium dodecylsulfate, cetylpyridinium chloride (hexadecylpyridinium chloride),hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, sodium cholate, carbamoyl, cholinechloride, sodium glycocholate, sodium taurodeoxycholate, lauricarginate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium taurocholate, lecithins,sucrose oleate esters, sucrose stearate esters, sucrose palmitateesters, sucrose laurate esters, and other emulsifiers, and the like.

Suitable sweet taste improving flavonoid additives for use inembodiments of this invention generally are classified as flavonols,flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, isoflavones, or anthocyanidins.Non-limiting examples of flavonoid additives include catechins (e.g.,green tea extracts such as Polyphenon™ 60, Polyphenon™ 30, andPolyphenon™ 25 (Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd., Japan), polyphenols, rutins(e.g., enzyme modified rutin Sanmelin™ AO (San-Ei Gen F.F.I., Inc.,Osaka, Japan)), neohesperidin, naringin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone,and the like.

Suitable sweet taste improving alcohol additives for use in embodimentsof this invention include, but are not limited to, ethanol.

Suitable sweet taste improving astringent compound additives include,but are not limited to, tannic acid, europium chloride (EuCl₃),gadolinium chloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), alum, tannicacid, and polyphenols (e.g., tea polyphenols).

Suitable sweet taste improving vitamins include nicotinamide (VitaminB3) and pyridoxal hydrochloride (Vitamin B6).

The sweet taste improving compositions also may comprise natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweeteners. For example, wherein the sweetenercomposition comprises at least one NHPS, the at least one sweet tasteimproving composition may comprise a synthetic high-potency sweetener,non-limiting examples of which include sucralose, potassium acesulfame,aspartame, alitame, saccharin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, cyclamate,neotame,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methylbutyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester, salts thereof, and the like.

The sweet taste improving compositions also may be in salt form whichmay be obtained using standard procedures well known in the art. Theterm “salt” also refers to complexes that retain the desired chemicalactivity of the sweet taste improving compositions of the presentinvention and are safe for human or animal consumption in a generallyacceptable range. Alkali metal (for example, sodium or potassium) oralkaline earth metal (for example, calcium or magnesium) salts also canbe made. Salts also may include combinations of alkali and alkalineearth metals. Non-limiting examples of such salts are (a) acid additionsalts formed with inorganic acids and salts formed with organic acids;(b) base addition salts formed with metal cations such as calcium,bismuth, barium, magnesium, aluminum, copper, cobalt, nickel, cadmium,sodium, potassium, and the like, or with a cation formed from ammonia,N,N-dibenzylethylenediamine, D-glucosamine, tetraethylammonium, orethylenediamine; or (c) combinations of (a) and (b). Thus, any saltforms which may be derived from the sweet taste improving compositionsmay be used with the embodiments of the present invention as long as thesalts of the sweet taste improving additives do not adversely affect thetaste of the sweetener compositions comprising the at least one naturaland/or synthetic high-potency sweetener. The salt forms of the additivescan be added to the natural and/or synthetic sweetener composition inthe same amounts as their acid or base forms.

In particular embodiments, suitable sweet taste improving inorganicsalts useful as sweet taste improving additives include, but are notlimited to, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium sulfate,potassium citrate, europium chloride (EuCl₃), gadolinium chloride(GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), magnesium sulfate, alum, magnesiumchloride, mono-, di-, tri-basic sodium or potassium salts of phosphoricacid (e.g., inorganic phosphates), salts of hydrochloric acid (e.g.,inorganic chlorides), sodium carbonate, sodium bisulfate, and sodiumbicarbonate. Furthermore, in particular embodiments, suitable organicsalts useful as sweet taste improving additives include, but are notlimited to, choline chloride, alginic acid sodium salt (sodiumalginate), glucoheptonic acid sodium salt, gluconic acid sodium salt(sodium gluconate), gluconic acid potassium salt (potassium gluconate),guanidine HCl, glucosamine HCl, amiloride HCl, monosodium glutamate(MSG), adenosine monophosphate salt, magnesium gluconate, potassiumtartrate (monohydrate), and sodium tartrate (dihydrate).

C. Combinations of Sweet Taste Improving Compositions

It has been discovered that combinations of at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener and at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition improve the temporal profile and/or flavor profile,including the osmotic taste, to be more sugar-like. One of ordinaryskill in the art, with the teachings of the present invention, mayarrive at all the possible combinations of natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweeteners and sweet taste improving compositions. Forexample, non-limiting combinations of the natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener and sweet taste improving compositions include:

-   -   1. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener        and at least one carbohydrate;    -   2. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener        and at least one polyol;    -   3. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener        and at least one amino acid;    -   4. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener        and at least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   5. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,        at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyol, at least one        amino acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   6. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,        at least one carbohydrate, and at least one polyol;    -   7. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,        at least one carbohydrate, and at least one amino acid;    -   8. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,        at least one carbohydrate, and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive;    -   9. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener,        at least one polyol, and at least one amino acid;    -   10. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one polyol, and at least one other sweet        taste improving additive;    -   11. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one amino acid, and at least one other sweet        taste improving additive;    -   12. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyol, and        at least one amino acid;    -   13. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyol, and        at least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   14. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive; and    -   15. at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency        sweetener, at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid,        and at least one other sweet taste improving additive.

These fifteen major combinations further may be broken down into furthercombinations in order to improve the overall taste of the natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener or the sweetened compositionscomprising the natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener.

As explained above, the sweet taste improving composition is selectedfrom the group consisting of polyols, carbohydrates, amino acids, othersweet taste improving additives, and combinations thereof. The othersweet taste improving additives useful in embodiments of this inventionare described hereinabove. In one embodiment, a single sweet tasteimproving composition may be used with a single natural or synthetichigh-potency sweetener and a dairy product. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, a single sweet taste improving composition may beused with one or more natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetenersand a dairy product. In yet another embodiment, one or more sweet tasteimproving compositions may be used with a single natural or synthetichigh-potency sweetener and a dairy product. In a further embodiment,there may be a plurality of sweet taste improving compositions used incombination with one or more natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweeteners and a dairy product. Thus, non-limiting examples of sweettaste improving composition combinations for embodiments of thisinvention include:

-   -   i. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   ii. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   iii. at least one polyol and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive;    -   iv. at least one polyol and at least one carbohydrate;    -   v. at least one carbohydrate and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive;    -   vi. at least one polyol and at least one amino acid;    -   vii. at least one carbohydrate and at least one amino acid;    -   viii. at least one amino acid and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive.

Other sweet taste improving composition combinations in accordance withembodiments of this invention include:

-   -   1. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one amino acid;    -   2. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one polyamino acid;    -   3. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one sugar acid;    -   4. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one nucleotide;    -   5. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one organic acid;    -   6. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one inorganic acid;    -   7, at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one bitter compound;    -   8. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one flavorant or flavoring ingredient;    -   9. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one polymer;    -   10. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate or protein or protein        hydrolysate with low molecular weight amino acid;    -   11. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one surfactant;    -   12. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   13. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one alcohol;    -   14. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one emulsifier;    -   15. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one inorganic salt,    -   16. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one organic salt,    -   17. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one amino acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   18. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one polyamino acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   19. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one sugar acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   20. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one nucleotide, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   21. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one organic acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   22. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one inorganic acid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   23. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one bitter compound, and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive;    -   24. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one flavorant or flavoring ingredient, and at least one other        sweet taste improving additive;    -   25. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one polymer, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   26. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at least one other sweet        taste improving additive;    -   27. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one surfactant, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   28. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one flavonoid, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   29. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, and at least        one alcohol, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   30. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one polyamino acid;    -   31. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, and at least one sugar        acid;    -   32. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, and at least one nucleotide;    -   33. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, and at least one organic acid;    -   34. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   35. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   36. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one polymer;    -   37. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, at least one bitter compound, at least        one polymer, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   38. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, at least one bitter compound, at least        one polymer, at least one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at        least one surfactant;    -   39. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, at least one bitter compound, at least        one polymer, at least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at        least one surfactant, and at least one flavonoid;    -   40. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, at least one polyamino acid, at least one sugar        acid, at least one nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at        least one inorganic acid, at least one bitter compound, at least        one polymer, at least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at        least one surfactant, at least one flavonoid, and at least one        alcohol;    -   41. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one sugar acid;    -   42. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one nucleotide;    -   43. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one organic acid;    -   44. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one inorganic acid;    -   45. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   46. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate. at least one        amino acid, and at least one polymer;    -   47. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   48. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one surfactant;    -   49. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one flavonoid;    -   50. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        amino acid, and at least one alcohol;    -   51. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one sugar acid;    -   52. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one nucleotide;    -   53. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one organic acid;    -   54, at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one inorganic acid;    -   55. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   56. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one polymer;    -   57. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   58. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one surfactant;    -   59. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one flavonoid;    -   60. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one alcohol;    -   61. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one nucleotide;    -   62. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one organic acid;    -   63. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one inorganic acid;    -   64. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   65. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one polymer;    -   66. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   67. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one surfactant;    -   68. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one flavonoid;    -   69. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        sugar acid, and at least one alcohol;    -   70. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one organic acid;    -   71. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one inorganic acid;    -   72. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one bitter compound;    -   73. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one polymer;    -   74. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   75. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one surfactant;    -   76. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one flavonoid;    -   77. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one alcohol;    -   78. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one inorganic acid;    -   79. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   80. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one polymer;    -   81. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   82. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one surfactant;    -   83. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one flavonoid;    -   84. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        organic acid, and at least one alcohol;    -   85. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   86. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one polymer;    -   87. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   88. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one surfactant;    -   89. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one flavonoid;    -   90. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        inorganic acid, and at least one alcohol;    -   91. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        bitter compound, and at least one polymer;    -   92. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        bitter compound, and at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate;    -   93. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        bitter compound, and at least one surfactant;    -   94. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        bitter compound, and at least one flavonoid;    -   95. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        bitter compound, and at least one alcohol;    -   96. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polymer, and at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   97. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polymer, and at least one surfactant;    -   98. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polymer, and at least one flavonoid;    -   99. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least one        polymer, and at least one alcohol;    -   100. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at least one surfactant;    -   101. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at least one flavonoid;    -   102. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least        one surfactant, and at least one flavonoid;    -   103. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least        one surfactant, and at least one alcohol; and    -   104. at least one polyol, at least one carbohydrate, at least        one flavonoid, and at least one alcohol.

Other sweet taste improving composition combinations in accordance withembodiments of this invention include:

-   -   1. at least one polyol and at least one amino acid;    -   2. at least one polyol and at least one polyamino acid;    -   3. at least one polyol and at least one sugar acid;    -   4. at least one polyol and at least one nucleotide;    -   5. at least one polyol and at least one organic acid;    -   6. at least one polyol and at least one inorganic acid;    -   7. at least one polyol and at least one bitter compound;    -   8. at least one polyol and at least one flavorant or flavoring        ingredient;    -   9. at least one polyol and at least one polymer;    -   10. at least one polyol and at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate;    -   11. at least one polyol and at least one surfactant;    -   12. at least one polyol and at least one flavonoid;    -   13. at least one polyol and at least one alcohol;    -   14. at least one polyol and at least one emulsifier;    -   15. at least one polyol and at least one inorganic salt;    -   16. at least one polyol and at least one organic salt;    -   17. at least one polyol and at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate or mixture of low molecular weight amino acids;    -   18. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   19. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   20. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   21. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   22. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   23. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   24. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   25. at least one polyol, at least one flavorant or flavoring        ingredient, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   26. at least one polyol, at least one polymer, and at least one        other sweet taste improving additive;    -   27. at least one polyol, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   28. at least one polyol, at least one surfactant, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   29. at least one polyol, at least one flavonoid, and at least        one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   30. at least one polyol, at least one alcohol, and at least one        other sweet taste improving additive;    -   31. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one polyamino acid;    -   32. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, and at least one sugar acid;    -   33. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, and at least one        nucleotide;    -   34. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one organic acid;    -   35. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, and at least one        inorganic acid;    -   36. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   37. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, and at least one polymer;    -   38. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   39. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at least one        surfactant;    -   40. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at least one        surfactant, and at least one flavonoid;    -   41. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, at least one        polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at least one        surfactant, at least one flavonoid, and at least one alcohol;    -   42. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one sugar acid;    -   43. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one nucleotide;    -   44. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one organic acid;    -   45. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one inorganic acid;    -   46. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one bitter compound;    -   47. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one polymer;    -   48. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   49. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one surfactant;    -   50. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   51. at least one polyol, at least one amino acid, and at least        one alcohol;    -   52. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one sugar acid;    -   53. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one nucleotide;    -   54. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one organic acid;    -   55. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one organic salt;    -   56. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   57. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one inorganic salt;    -   58. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   59. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one polymer;    -   60. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   61. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one surfactant;    -   62. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   63. at least one polyol, at least one polyamino acid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   64. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one nucleotide;    -   65. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one organic acid;    -   66. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one inorganic acid;    -   67. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one bitter compound;    -   68. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one polymer;    -   69. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   70. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one surfactant;    -   71. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   72. at least one polyol, at least one sugar acid, and at least        one alcohol;    -   73. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one organic acid;    -   74. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one inorganic acid;    -   75. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one bitter compound;    -   76. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one polymer;    -   77. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   78. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one surfactant;    -   79. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   80. at least one polyol, at least one nucleotide, and at least        one alcohol;    -   81. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one inorganic acid,    -   82. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one bitter compound;    -   83. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one polymer;    -   84. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   85. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one surfactant;    -   86. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   87. at least one polyol, at least one organic acid, and at least        one alcohol;    -   88. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   89. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one polymer;    -   90. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   91. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one surfactant;    -   92. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   93. at least one polyol, at least one inorganic acid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   94. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one polymer;    -   95. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   96. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one surfactant;    -   97. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   98. at least one polyol, at least one bitter compound, and at        least one alcohol;    -   99. at least one polyol, at least one polymer, and at least one        protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   100. at least one polyol, at least one polymer, and at least one        surfactant;    -   101. at least one polyol, at least one polymer, and at least one        flavonoid;    -   102. at least one polyol, at least one polymer, and at least one        alcohol;    -   103. at least one polyol, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one surfactant;    -   104. at least one polyol, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one flavonoid;    -   105. at least one polyol, at least one surfactant, and at least        one flavonoid;    -   106. at least one polyol, at least one surfactant, and at least        one alcohol;    -   107. at least one polyol, at least one flavonoid, and at least        one alcohol;    -   108. at least one sweet taste improving additive and erythritol;    -   109. at least one sweet taste improving additive and maltitol;    -   110. at least one sweet taste improving additive and mannitol;    -   111. at least one sweet taste improving additive and sorbitol;    -   112. at least one sweet taste improving additive and lactitol;    -   113. at least one sweet taste improving additive and xylitol;    -   114. at least one sweet taste improving additive and isomalt;    -   115. at least one sweet taste improving additive and propylene        glycol;    -   116. at least one sweet taste improving additive and glycerol;    -   117. at least one sweet taste improving additive and palatinose;    -   118. at least one sweet taste improving additive and reduced        isomalto-oligosaccharides;    -   119. at least one sweet taste improving additive and reduced        xylo-oligosaccharides;    -   120. at least one sweet taste improving additive and reduced        gentio-oligosaccharides;    -   121. at least one sweet taste improving additive and reduced        maltose syrup;    -   122. at least one sweet taste improving additive and reduced        glucose syrup;    -   123. at least one sweet taste improving additive, erythritol,        and at least one other polyol;    -   124. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltitol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   125. at least one sweet taste improving additive, mannitol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   126. at least one sweet taste improving additive, sorbitol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   127. at least one sweet taste improving additive, lactitol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   128. at least one sweet taste improving additive, xylitol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   129. at least one sweet taste improving additive, isomalt, and        at least one other polyol;    -   130. at least one sweet taste improving additive, propylene        glycol, and at least one other polyol;    -   131. at least one sweet taste improving additive, glycerol, and        at least one other polyol;    -   132. at least one sweet taste improving additive, palatinose,        and at least one other polyol;    -   133. at least one sweet taste improving additive, reduced        isomalto-oligosaccharides, and at least one other polyol;    -   134. at least one sweet taste improving additive, reduced        xylo-oligosaccharides, and at least one other polyol;    -   135. at least one sweet taste improving additive, reduced        gentio-oligosaccharides, and at least one other polyol;    -   136. at least one sweet taste improving additive, reduced        maltose syrup, and at least one other polyol; and    -   137. at least one sweet taste improving additive, reduced        glucose syrup, and at least one other polyol.

Other sweet taste improving composition combinations in accordance withembodiments of this invention include:

-   -   1. at least one polyol and tagatose;    -   2. at least one polyol and trehalose;    -   3. at least one polyol and galactose;    -   4. at least one polyol and rhamnose;    -   5. at least one polyol and dextrin;    -   6. at least one polyol and cyclodextrin;    -   7. at least one polyol and α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, or        γcyclodextrin;    -   8. at least one polyol and maltodextrin;    -   9. at least one polyol and dextran;    -   10. at least one polyol and sucrose;    -   11. at least one polyol and glucose;    -   12. at least one polyol and fructose;    -   13. at least one polyol and threose;    -   14. at least one polyol and arabinose;    -   15. at least one polyol and xylose;    -   16. at least one polyol and lyxose;    -   17. at least one polyol and allose;    -   18. at least one polyol and altrose;    -   19. at least one polyol and mannose;    -   20. at least one polyol and idose;    -   21. at least one polyol and talose;    -   22. at least one polyol and lactose;    -   23. at least one polyol and maltose;    -   24. at least one polyol and invert sugar;    -   25. at least one polyol and trehalose;    -   26. at least one polyol and isotrehalose;    -   27. at least one polyol and neotrehalose;    -   28. at least one polyol and palatinose;    -   29. at least one polyol and galactose;    -   30. at least one polyol and beet oligosaccharides;    -   31. at least one polyol and isomalto-oligosaccharides;    -   32. at least one polyol and isomaltose;    -   33. at least one polyol and isomaltotriose;    -   34. at least one polyol and panose;    -   35. at least one polyol and xylo-oligosaccharides;    -   36. at least one polyol and xylotriose;    -   37. at least one polyol and xylobiose;    -   38. at least one polyol and gentio-oligoscaccharides;    -   39. at least one polyol and gentiobiose;    -   40. at least one polyol and gentiotriose;    -   41. at least one polyol and gentiotetraose;    -   42. at least one polyol and sorbose;    -   43. at least one polyol and nigero-oligosaccharides;    -   44. at least one polyol and palatinose oligosaccharides;    -   45. at least one polyol and fucose;    -   46. at least one polyol and fructooligosaccharides;    -   47. at least one polyol and kestose;    -   48. at least one polyol and nystose;    -   49. at least one polyol and maltotetraol;    -   50. at least one polyol and maltotriol;    -   51. at least one polyol and malto-oligosaccharides;    -   52. at least one polyol and maltotriose;    -   53. at least one polyol and maltotetraose;    -   54. at least one polyol and maltopentaose;    -   55. at least one polyol and maltohexaose;    -   56. at least one polyol and maltoheptaose;    -   57. at least one polyol and lactulose;    -   58. at least one polyol and melibiose;    -   59. at least one polyol and raffinose;    -   60. at least one polyol and rhamnose;    -   61. at least one polyol and ribose;    -   62. at least one polyol and isomerized liquid sugars;    -   63. at least one polyol and high fructose corn syrup (e.g.        HFCS55 and HFCS42) or starch syrup;    -   64. at least one polyol and coupling sugars;    -   65. at least one polyol and soybean oligosaccharides;    -   66. at least one polyol and glucose syrup;    -   67. at least one polyol, tagatose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   68. at least one polyol, trehalose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   69. at least one polyol, galactose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   70. at least one polyol, rhamnose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   71. at least one polyol, dextrin, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   72. at least one polyol, cyclodextrin, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   73. at least one polyol, β-cyclodextrin, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   74. at least one polyol, maltodextrin, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   75. at least one polyol, dextran, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   76. at least one polyol, sucrose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   77. at least one polyol, glucose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   78. at least one polyol, fructose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   79. at least one polyol, threose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   80. at least one polyol, arabinose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   81. at least one polyol, xylose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   82. at least one polyol, lyxose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   83. at least one polyol, allose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   84. at least one polyol, altrose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   85. at least one polyol, mannose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   86. at least one polyol, idose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   87. at least one polyol, talose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   88. at least one polyol, lactose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   89. at least one polyol, maltose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   90. at least one polyol, invert sugar, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   91. at least one polyol, trehalose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   92. at least one polyol, isotrehalose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   93. at least one polyol, neotrehalose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   94. at least one polyol, palatinose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   95. at least one polyol, galactose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   96. at least one polyol, beet oligosaccharides, and at least one        other carbohydrate;    -   97. at least one polyol, isomalto-oligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   98. at least one polyol, isomaltose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   99. at least one polyol, isomaltotriose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   100. at least one polyol, panose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   101. at least one polyol, xylo-oligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   102. at least one polyol, xylotriose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   103. at least one polyol, xylobiose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   104. at least one polyol, gentio-oligoscaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   105. at least one polyol, gentiobiose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   106. at least one polyol, gentiotriose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   107. at least one polyol, gentiotetraose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   108. at least one polyol, sorbose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   109. at least one polyol, nigero-oligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   110. at least one polyol, palatinose oligosaccharides, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   111. at least one polyol, fucose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   112. at least one polyol, fructooligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   113. at least one polyol, kestose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   114. at least one polyol, nystose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   115. at least one polyol, maltotetraol, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   116. at least one polyol, maltotriol, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   117. at least one polyol, malto-oligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   118. at least one polyol, maltotriose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   119. at least one polyol, maltotetraose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   120. at least one polyol, maltopentaose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   121. at least one polyol, maltohexaose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   122. at least one polyol, maltoheptaose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   123. at least one polyol, lactulose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   124. at least one polyol, melibiose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   125. at least one polyol, raffinose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   126. at least one polyol, rhamnose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   127. at least one polyol, ribose, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   128. at least one polyol, isomerized liquid sugars, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   129. at least one polyol, high fructose corn syrup (e.g. HFCS55        and HFCS42) or starch syrup, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   130. at least one polyol, coupling sugars, and at least one        other carbohydrate;    -   131. at least one polyol, soybean oligosaccharides, and at least        one other carbohydrate;    -   132. at least one polyol, glucose syrup, and at least one other        carbohydrate;    -   133. at least one carbohydrate and erythritol;    -   134. at least one carbohydrate and maltitol;    -   135. at least one carbohydrate and mannitol;    -   136. at least one carbohydrate and sorbitol;    -   137. at least one carbohydrate and lactitol;    -   138. at least one carbohydrate and xylitol;    -   139. at least one carbohydrate and isomalt;    -   140. at least one carbohydrate and propylene glycol;    -   141. at least one carbohydrate and glycerol;    -   142. at least one carbohydrate and palatinose;    -   143. at least one carbohydrate and reduced        isomalto-oligosaccharides;    -   144. at least one carbohydrate and reduced        xylo-oligosaccharides;    -   145. at least one carbohydrate and reduced        gentio-oligosaccharides;    -   146. at least one carbohydrate and reduced maltose syrup;    -   147. at least one carbohydrate and reduced glucose syrup;    -   148. at least one carbohydrate, erythritol, and at least one        other polyol;    -   149. at least one carbohydrate, maltitol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   150. at least one carbohydrate, mannitol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   151. at least one carbohydrate, sorbitol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   152. at least one carbohydrate, lactitol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   153. at least one carbohydrate, xylitol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   154. at least one carbohydrate, isomalt, and at least one other        polyol;    -   155. at least one carbohydrate, propylene glycol, and at least        one other polyol;    -   156. at least one carbohydrate, glycerol, and at least one other        polyol;    -   157. at least one carbohydrate, palatinose, and at least one        other polyol;    -   158. at least one carbohydrate, reduced        isomalto-oligosaccharides, and at least one other polyol;    -   159. at least one carbohydrate, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides,        and at least one other polyol;    -   160. at least one carbohydrate, reduced gentio-oligosaccharides,        and at least one other polyol;    -   161. at least one carbohydrate, reduced maltose syrup, and at        least one other polyol; and    -   162. at least one carbohydrate, reduced glucose syrup, and at        least one other polyol.

Other sweet taste improving composition combinations in accordance withembodiments of this invention include;

-   -   1. at least one carbohydrate and at least one amino acid;    -   2. at least one carbohydrate and at least one polyamino acid;    -   3. at least one carbohydrate and at least one sugar acid;    -   4. at least one carbohydrate and at least one nucleotide;    -   5. at least one carbohydrate and at least one organic acid;    -   6. at least one carbohydrate and at least one inorganic acid;    -   7. at least one carbohydrate and at least one bitter compound;    -   8. at least one carbohydrate and at least one flavorant or        flavoring ingredient;    -   9. at least one carbohydrate and at least one polymer;    -   10. at least one carbohydrate and at least one protein or        protein hydrolysate;    -   11. at least one carbohydrate and at least one surfactant;    -   12. at least one carbohydrate and at least one flavonoid;    -   13. at least one carbohydrate and at least one alcohol;    -   14. at least one carbohydrate and at least one protein or        protein hydrolysate or mixture of low molecular weight amino        acids;    -   15. at least one carbohydrate and at least one emulsifier;    -   16. at least one carbohydrate and at least one inorganic salt,    -   17. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   18. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   19. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   20. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   21. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   22. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   23. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   24. at least one carbohydrate, at least one flavorant or        flavoring ingredient, and at least one other sweet taste        improving additive;    -   25. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polymer, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   26. at least one carbohydrate, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one other sweet taste improving        additive;    -   27. at least one carbohydrate, at least one surfactant, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   28. at least one carbohydrate, at least one flavonoid, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   29. at least one carbohydrate, at least one alcohol, and at        least one other sweet taste improving additive;    -   30. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one polyamino acid;    -   31. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, and at least one sugar acid;    -   32. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, and at least one        nucleotide;    -   33. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, and at least one organic acid;    -   34. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, and at least one        inorganic acid;    -   35. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, and at least one bitter compound;    -   36. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, and at least one polymer;    -   37. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   38. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, and at least one        surfactant;    -   39. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at least one        surfactant, and at least one flavonoid;    -   40. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, at least        one polyamino acid, at least one sugar acid, at least one        nucleotide, at least one organic acid, at least one inorganic        acid, at least one bitter compound, at least one polymer, at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate, at least one        surfactant, at least one flavonoid, and at least one alcohol;    -   41. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one sugar acid;    -   42. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one nucleotide;    -   43. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one organic acid;    -   44. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   45. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   46. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one polymer;    -   47. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   48. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one surfactant;    -   49. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   50. at least one carbohydrate, at least one amino acid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   51. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one sugar acid;    -   52. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one nucleotide;    -   53. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one organic acid;    -   54. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one inorganic acid;    -   55. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one bitter compound;    -   56. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one polymer;    -   57. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   58. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one surfactant;    -   59. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one flavonoid;    -   60. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polyamino acid, and        at least one alcohol;    -   61. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one nucleotide;    -   62. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one organic acid;    -   63. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   64. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   65. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one polymer;    -   66. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   67. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one surfactant;    -   68. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   69. at least one carbohydrate, at least one sugar acid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   70. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one organic acid;    -   71. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   72. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   73. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one polymer;    -   74. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   75. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one surfactant;    -   76. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   77. at least one carbohydrate, at least one nucleotide, and at        least one alcohol;    -   78. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one inorganic acid;    -   79. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one bitter compound;    -   80. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one polymer;    -   81. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   82. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one surfactant;    -   83. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   84. at least one carbohydrate, at least one organic acid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   85. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one bitter compound;    -   86. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one polymer;    -   87. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   88. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one surfactant;    -   89. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one flavonoid;    -   90. at least one carbohydrate, at least one inorganic acid, and        at least one alcohol;    -   91. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one polymer;    -   92. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   93. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one surfactant;    -   94. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one flavonoid;    -   95. at least one carbohydrate, at least one bitter compound, and        at least one alcohol;    -   96. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polymer, and at        least one protein or protein hydrolysate;    -   97. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polymer, and at        least one surfactant;    -   98. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polymer, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   99. at least one carbohydrate, at least one polymer, and at        least one alcohol;    -   100. at least one carbohydrate, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one surfactant;    -   101. at least one carbohydrate, at least one protein or protein        hydrolysate, and at least one flavonoid;    -   102. at least one carbohydrate, at least one surfactant, and at        least one flavonoid;    -   103. at least one carbohydrate, at least one surfactant, and at        least one alcohol;    -   104. at least one carbohydrate, at least one flavonoid, and at        least one alcohol;    -   105. at least one sweet taste improving additive and D-tagatose;    -   106. at least one sweet taste improving additive and trehalose;    -   107. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        D-galactose;    -   108. at least one sweet taste improving additive and rhamnose.    -   109. at least one sweet taste improving additive and dextrin;    -   110. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        cyclodextrin;    -   111. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        β-cyclodextrin;    -   112. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltodextrin;    -   113. at least one sweet taste improving additive and dextran;    -   114. at least one sweet taste improving additive and sucrose;    -   115. at least one sweet taste improving additive and glucose;    -   116. at least one sweet taste improving additive and fructose;    -   117. at least one sweet taste improving additive and threose;    -   118. at least one sweet taste improving additive and arabinose;    -   119. at least one sweet taste improving additive and xylose;    -   120. at least one sweet taste improving additive and lyxose;    -   121. at least one sweet taste improving additive and allose;    -   122. at least one sweet taste improving additive and altrose;    -   123. at least one sweet taste improving additive and mannose;    -   124. at least one sweet taste improving additive and idose;    -   125. at least one sweet taste improving additive and talose;    -   126. at least one sweet taste improving additive and lactose;    -   127. at least one sweet taste improving additive and maltose;    -   128. at least one sweet taste improving additive and invert        sugar;    -   129. at least one sweet taste improving additive and trehalose;    -   130. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        isotrehalose;    -   131. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        neotrehalose;    -   132. at least one sweet taste improving additive and palatinose;    -   133. at least one sweet taste improving additive and galactose;    -   134. at least one sweet taste improving additive and beet        oligosaccharides;    -   135. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        isomalto-oligosaccharides;    -   136. at least one sweet taste improving additive and isomaltose;    -   137. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        isomaltotriose;    -   138. at least one sweet taste improving additive and panose;    -   139. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        xylo-oligosaccharides;    -   140. at least one sweet taste improving additive and xylotriose;    -   141. at least one sweet taste improving additive and xylobiose;    -   142. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        gentio-oligoscaccharides;    -   143. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        gentiobiose;    -   144. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        gentiotriose;    -   145. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        gentiotetraose;    -   146. at least one sweet taste improving additive and sorbose;    -   147. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        nigero-oligosaccharides;    -   148. at least one sweet taste improving additive and palatinose        oligosaccharides;    -   149. at least one sweet taste improving additive and fucose;    -   150. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        fructooligosaccharides;    -   151. at least one sweet taste improving additive and kestose;    -   152. at least one sweet taste improving additive and nystose;    -   153. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltotetraol;    -   154. at least one sweet taste improving additive and maltotriol;    -   155. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        malto-oligosaccharides;    -   156. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltotriose;    -   157. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltotetraose;    -   158. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltopentaose;    -   159. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltohexaose;    -   160. at least one sweet taste improving additive and        maltoheptaose;    -   161. at least one sweet taste improving additive and lactulose;    -   162. at least one sweet taste improving additive and melibiose;    -   163. at least one sweet taste improving additive and raffinose;    -   164. at least one sweet taste improving additive and rhamnose;    -   165. at least one sweet taste improving additive and ribose;    -   166. at least one sweet taste improving additive and isomerized        liquid sugars;    -   167. at least one sweet taste improving additive and high        fructose corn syrup (e.g., HFCS55 and HFCS42) or starch syrup;    -   168. at least one sweet taste improving additive and coupling        sugars;    -   169. at least one sweet taste improving additive and soybean        oligosaccharides;    -   170. at least one sweet taste improving additive and glucose        syrup;    -   171. at least one sweet taste improving additive, D-tagatose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   172. at least one sweet taste improving additive, trehalose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   173. at least one sweet taste improving additive, D-galactose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   174. at least one sweet taste improving additive, rhamnose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   175. at least one sweet taste improving additive, dextrin, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   176. at least one sweet taste improving additive, cyclodextrin,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   177. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        β-cyclodextrin, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   178. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltodextrin,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   179. at least one sweet taste improving additive, dextran, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   180. at least one sweet taste improving additive, sucrose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   181. at least one sweet taste improving additive, glucose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   182. at least one sweet taste improving additive, fructose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   183. at least one sweet taste improving additive, threose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   184. at least one sweet taste improving additive, arabinose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   185. at least one sweet taste improving additive, xylose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   186. at least one sweet taste improving additive, lyxose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   187. at least one sweet taste improving additive, allose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   188. at least one sweet taste improving additive, altrose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   189. at least one sweet taste improving additive, mannose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   190. at least one sweet taste improving additive, idose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   191. at least one sweet taste improving additive, talose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   192. at least one sweet taste improving additive, lactose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   193. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   194. at least one sweet taste improving additive, invert sugar,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   195. at least one sweet taste improving additive, trehalose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   196. at least one sweet taste improving additive, isotrehalose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   197. at least one sweet taste improving additive, neotrehalose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   198. at least one sweet taste improving additive, palatinose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   199. at least one sweet taste improving additive, galactose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   200. at least one sweet taste improving additive, beet        oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   201. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        isomalto-oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   202. at least one sweet taste improving additive, isomaltose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   203. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        isomaltotriose, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   204. at least one sweet taste improving additive, panose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   205. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        xylo-oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   206. at least one sweet taste improving additive, xylotriose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   207. at least one sweet taste improving additive, xylobiose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   208. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        gentio-oligoscaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   209. at least one sweet taste improving additive, gentiobiose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   210. at least one sweet taste improving additive, gentiotriose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   211. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        gentiotetraose, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   212. at least one sweet taste improving additive, sorbose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   213. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        nigero-oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   214. at least one sweet taste improving additive, palatinose        oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   215. at least one sweet taste improving additive, fucose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   216. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        fructooligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   217. at least one sweet taste improving additive, kestose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   218. at least one sweet taste improving additive, nystose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   219. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltotetraol,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   220. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltotriol,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   221. at least one sweet taste improving additive,        malto-oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   222. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltotriose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   223. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltotetraose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   224. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltopentaose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   225. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltohexaose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   226. at least one sweet taste improving additive, maltoheptaose,        and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   227. at least one sweet taste improving additive, lactulose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   228. at least one sweet taste improving additive, melibiose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   229. at least one sweet taste improving additive, raffinose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   230. at least one sweet taste improving additive, rhamnose, and        at least one other carbohydrate;    -   231. at least one sweet taste improving additive, ribose, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   232. at least one sweet taste improving additive, isomerized        liquid sugars, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   233. at least one sweet taste improving additive, high fructose        corn syrup (e.g. HFCS55 and HFCS42) or starch syrup, and at        least one other carbohydrate;    -   234. at least one sweet taste improving additive, coupling        sugars, and at least one other carbohydrate;    -   235. at least one sweet taste improving additive, soybean        oligosaccharides, and at least one other carbohydrate; and    -   236. at least one sweet taste improving additive, glucose syrup,        and at least one other carbohydrate.

In another embodiment, the dairy composition comprises at least onenatural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener and a dairy product incombination with a plurality of sweet taste improving additives,desirably 3 or more sweet taste improving additives, and even moredesirably 4 or more sweet taste improving additives, wherein each sweettaste improving additive is present in an amount such that no one sweettaste improving additive imparts a substantial off taste to thesweetener composition. In other words, the amounts of the sweet tasteimproving additives in the sweetener composition are balanced so that noone sweet taste improving additive imparts a substantial off taste tothe sweetener composition.

According to a particular embodiment of this invention, the sweetenercomposition provided herein comprises at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition in the sweetener composition in an amount effective for thesweetener composition to impart an osmolarity of at least 10 mOsmoles/Lto an aqueous solution of the sweetener composition, wherein the atleast one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener is present inthe aqueous solution in an amount sufficient to impart a maximumsweetness intensity equivalent to that of a 10% aqueous solution ofsucrose by weight. As used herein, “mOsmoles/L” refers to milliosmolesper liter. According to another embodiment, the sweetener compositioncomprises at least one sweet taste improving composition in an amounteffective for the sweetener composition to impart an osmolarity of 10 to500 mOsmoles/L, preferably 25 to 500 mOsmoles/L preferably, morepreferably 100 to 500 mOsmoles/L, more preferably 200 to 500 mOsmoles/L,and still more preferably 300 to 500 mOsmoles/L to an aqueous solutionof the sweetener composition, wherein the at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener is present in the aqueous solution inan amount sufficient to impart a maximum sweetness intensity equivalentto that of a 10% aqueous solution of sucrose by weight. Wherein aplurality of sweet taste improving compositions are combined with atleast one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener, theosmolarity imparted is that of the total combination of the plurality ofsweet taste improving compositions.

Osmolarity refers to the measure of osmoles of solute per liter ofsolution, wherein osmole is equal to the number of moles of osmoticallyactive particles in an ideal solution (e.g., a mole of glucose is oneosmole), whereas a mole of sodium chloride is two osmoles (one mole ofsodium and one mole of chloride). Thus, in order to improve in thequality of taste of the sweetener composition, the osmotically activecompounds or the compounds which impart osmolarity must not introducesignificant off taste to the formulation.

In one embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving carbohydrate additivesfor the present invention have a molecular weight less than or equal to500 and desirably have a molecular weight from 50 to 500. In particularembodiments, suitable carbohydrates with a molecular weight less than orequal to 500 include, but are not limited to, sucrose, fructose,glucose, maltose, lactose, mannose, galactose, and tagatose. Generally,in accordance with desirable embodiments of this invention, a sweettaste improving carbohydrate additive is present in the sweetenercompositions in an amount from about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm.(Throughout this specification, the term ppm means parts per million byweight or volume. For example, 500 ppm means 500 mg in a liter.) Inaccordance with other desirable embodiments of this invention, a sweettaste improving carbohydrate additive is present in the sweetenedcompositions in an amount from about 2,500 to about 10,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving carbohydrateadditives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L toabout 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are notlimited to, sweet taste improving carbohydrate additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 50 to about 500.

In one embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving polyol additives havea molecular weight less than or equal to 500 and desirably have amolecular weight from 76 to 500. In particular embodiments, suitablesweet taste improving polyol additives with a molecular weight less thanor equal to 500 include, but are not limited to, erythritol, glycerol,and propylene glycol. Generally, in accordance with desirableembodiments of this invention, a sweet taste improving polyol additiveis present in the sweetener compositions in an amount from about 100 ppmto about 80,000 ppm. In accordance with other desirable embodiments ofthis invention, a sweet taste improving polyol additive is present insweetened compositions in an amount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm.In a sub-embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving polyol additives forimparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,sweet taste improving polyol additives with a molecular weight rangingfrom about 76 to about 500.

In accordance with still other desirable embodiments of this invention,a sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in sweetenercompositions in an amount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of thetotal sweetener composition, more particularly from about about 5,000 toabout 40,000 ppm, and still more particularly from about 10,000 to about35,000 ppm. Desirably, the at least one natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener and at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive are present in the sweetener composition in a ratio from about1:4 to about 1:800, respectively; more particularly from about 1:20 toabout 1:600; even more particularly from about 1:50 to about 1:300; andstill more particularly from about 1:75 to about 1:150.

Generally, in accordance with another embodiment of this invention, asuitable sweet taste improving alcohol additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 625 to about 10,000 ppm.In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving alcohol additivesfor imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,sweet taste improving alcohol additives with a molecular weight rangingfrom about 46 to about 500. A non-limiting example of sweet tasteimproving alcohol additive with a molecular weight ranging from about 46to about 500 includes ethanol.

In one embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving amino acid additiveshave a molecular weight of less than or equal to 250 and desirably havea molecular weight from 75 to 250. In particular embodiments, suitablesweet taste improving amino acid additives with a molecular weight lessthan or equal to 250 include, but are not limited to, glycine, alanine,serine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, theanine, and threonine.Preferred sweet taste improving amino acid additives include those whichare sweet tasting at high concentrations, but desirably are present inembodiments of this invention at amounts below or above their sweetnesstaste detection threshold. Even more preferred are mixtures of sweettaste improving amino acid additives at amounts below or above theirsweetness taste detection threshold. Generally, in accordance withdesirable embodiments of this invention, a sweet taste improving aminoacid additive is present in the sweetener compositions in an amount fromabout 100 ppm to about 25,000 ppm, more particularly from about 1,000 toabout 10,000 ppm, and still more particularly from about 2,500 to about5,000 ppm. In accordance with other desirable embodiments of thisinvention, a sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present in thesweetened compositions in an amount from about 250 ppm to about 7,500ppm. In a sub-embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving amino acidadditives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L toabout 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are notlimited to, sweet taste improving amino acid additives with a molecularweight ranging from about 75 to about 250.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving amino acid salt additive is present inthe sweetener compositions in an amount from about 25 to about 10,000ppm, more particularly from about 1,000 to about 7,500 ppm, and stillmore particularly from about 2,500 to about 5,000 ppm. In anotherembodiment, suitable sweet taste improving amino acid salt additives forimparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,sweet taste improving amino acid salt additives with a molecular weightranging from about 75 to about 300. Non-limiting examples of sweet tasteimproving amino acid salt additives with a molecular weight ranging fromabout 75 to about 300 include salts of glycine, alanine, serine,theanine, and threonine.

Generally, in accordance with still another embodiment of thisinvention, a suitable sweet taste improving protein or proteinhydroyslate additive is present in the sweetener compositions in anamount from about 200 to about 50,000 ppm. In another embodiment,suitable sweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysate additivesfor imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,sweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysate additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 75 to about 300. Non-limitingexamples of sweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysateadditives with a molecular weight ranging from about 75 to about 300include proteins or protein hydrolysates containing glycine, alanine,serine, and threonine.

Generally, in accordance with another embodiment of this invention, asuitable sweet taste improving inorganic acid additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 25 to about 5,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving inorganic acidadditives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L toabout 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are notlimited to, phosphoric acid, HCl, and H₂SO₄ and any other inorganic acidadditives which are safe for human or animal consumption when used in agenerally acceptable range. In a sub-embodiment, suitable sweet tasteimproving inorganic acid additives for imparting osmolarities rangingfrom about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenablecomposition include, but are not limited to, sweet taste improvinginorganic acid additives with a molecular weight range from about 36 toabout 98.

Generally, in accordance with still another embodiment of thisinvention, a suitable sweet taste improving inorganic acid salt additiveis present in the sweetener compositions in an amount from about 25 toabout 5,000 ppm. In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improvinginorganic acid salt additives for imparting osmolarities ranging fromabout 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable compositioninclude, but are not limited to, salts of inorganic acids, for examplesodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium salts of phosphoric acid, andany other alkali or alkaline earth metal salts of other inorganic acids(e.g., sodium bisulfate) which are safe for human or animal consumptionwhen used in a generally acceptable range. In a sub-embodiment, suitablesuitable sweet taste improving inorganic acid salt additives forimparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,sweet taste improving inorganic acid salt additives with a molecularweight range from about 58 to about 120.

Generally, in accordance with still another embodiment of thisinvention, a suitable sweet taste improving organic acid additive ispresent in the sweetener compositions in an amount from about 10 toabout 5,000 ppm. In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improvingorganic acid additives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include,but are not limited to, creatine, citric acid, malic acid, succinicacid, hydroxycitric acid, tartaric acid, fumaric acid, gluconic acid,glutaric acid, adipic acid, and any other sweet taste improving organicacid additives which are safe for human or animal consumption when usedin a generally acceptable range. In one embodiment, the sweet tasteimproving organic acid additive comprises a molecular weight range fromabout 60 to about 208.

Generally, in accordance with still another embodiment of thisinvention, a suitable sweet taste improving organic acid salt additiveis present in the sweetener compositions in an amount from about 20 toabout 10,000 ppm. In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improvingorganic acid salt additives for imparting osmolarities ranging fromabout 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable compositioninclude, but are not limited to, salts of sweet taste improving organicacid additives, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and otheralkali or alkaline metal salts of citric acid, malic acid, tartaricacid, fumaric acid, gluconic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid,hydroxycitric acid, succinic acid, and salts of any other sweet tasteimproving organic acid additives which are safe for human or animalconsumption when used in a generally acceptable range. In oneembodiment, the sweet taste improving organic acid salt additivecomprises a molecular weight range from about 140 to about 208.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving organic base salt additive is presentin the sweetener compositions in an amount from about 10 to about 5,000ppm. In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving organic basesalt additives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include,but are not limited to, inorganic and organic acid salts of organicbases such as glucosamine salts, choline salts, and guanidine salts.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving astringent additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 25 to about 1,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving astringent additivesfor imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,tannic acid, tea polyphenols, catechins, aluminum sulfate, AlNa(SO4)₂,AlK(SO₄)₂ and other forms of alum.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving nucleotide additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 5 to about 1,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving nucleotide additivesfor imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,adenosine monophosphate.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving polyamino acid additive is present inthe sweetener compositions in an amount from about 30 to about 2,000ppm. In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving polyaminoacid additives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10mOsmoles/L to about 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include,but are not limited to, poly-L-lysine (e.g., poly-L-α-lysine orpoly-L-ε-lysine), poly-L-ornithine (e.g., poly-L-α-ornithine orpoly-L-ε-ornithine), and poly-L-arginine.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving polymer additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 30 to about 2,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving polymer additives forimparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,chitosan, sodium hexametaphosphate and its salts, pectin, hydrocolloidssuch as gum acacia senegal, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, andpoly(ethylene glycol methyl ether).

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving surfactant additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 1 to about 5,000 ppm. Inanother embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving surfactant additivesfor imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L to about 500mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are not limited to,polysorbates, choline chloride, sodium taurocholate, lecithins, sucroseoleate esters, sucrose stearate esters, sucrose palmitate esters, andsucrlose laurate esters.

Generally, in accordance with yet another embodiment of this invention,a suitable sweet taste improving flavonoid additive is present in thesweetener compositions in an amount from about 0.1 to about 1,000 ppm.In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving flavonoidadditives for imparting osmolarities ranging from about 10 mOsmoles/L toabout 500 mOsmoles/L to a sweetenable composition include, but are notlimited to, naringin, catechins, rutins, neohesperidin, andneohesperidin dihydrochalcone.

In a preferred embodiment, non-limiting examples of sweet tasteimproving compositions enhancing the natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener's osmotic taste to be more sugar-like includesweet taste improving carbohydrate additives, sweet taste improvingalcohol additives, sweet taste improving polyol additives, sweet tasteimproving amino acid additives, sweet taste improving amino acid saltadditives, sweet taste improving inorganic acid salt additives, sweettaste improving polymer additives, and sweet taste improving protein orprotein hydrolysate additives.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving carbohydrateadditives for improving the osmotic taste of the natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but arenot limited to, sweet taste improving carbohydrate additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 50 to about 500. Non-limitingexamples of sweet taste improving carbohydrate additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 50 to about 500 include sucrose,fructose, glucose, maltose, lactose, mannose, galactose, ribose,rhamnose, trehalose, HFCS, and tagatose.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving polyol additivesfor improving the osmotic taste of natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener to be more sugar-like include, but are not limited to, sweettaste improving polyol additives with a molecular weight ranging fromabout 76 to about 500. Non-limiting examples of sweet taste improvingpolyol additives with a molecular weight ranging from about 76 to about500 include erythritol, glycerol, and propylene glycol. In asub-embodiment, other suitable sweet taste improving polyol additivesinclude sugar alcohols.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving alcohol additivesfor improving the osmotic taste of natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener to be more sugar-like include, but are not limited to, sweettaste improving alcohol additives with a molecular weight ranging fromabout 46 to about 500. A non-limiting example of sweet taste improvingalcohol additive with a molecular weight ranging from about 46 to about500 includes ethanol.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving amino acidadditives for improving the osmotic taste of natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but are notlimited to, sweet taste improving amino acid additives with a molecularweight ranging from about 75 to about 250. Non-limiting examples ofsweet taste improving amino acid additives with a molecular weightranging from about 75 to about 250 include glycine, alanine, serine,leucine, valine, isoleucine, proline, hydroxyproline, glutamine,theanine, and threonine.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving amino acid saltadditives for improving the osmotic taste of natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but are notlimited to, sweet taste improving amino acid salt additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 75 to about 300. Non-limitingexamples of sweet taste improving amino acid salt additives with amolecular weight ranging from about 75 to about 300 include salts ofglycine, alanine, serine, leucine, valine, isoleucine, proline,hydroxyproline, glutamine, theanine, and threonine.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving protein or proteinhydrolysate additives for improving the osmotic taste of natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but arenot limited to, sweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysateadditives with a molecular weight ranging from about 75 to about 300.Non-limiting examples of sweet taste improving protein or proteinhydrolysate additives with a molecular weight ranging from about 75 toabout 300 include protein or protein hydrolysates containing glycine,alanine, serine, leucine, valine, isoleucine, proline, and threonine.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving inorganic acidsalt additives for improving the osmotic taste of natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but arenot limited to, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride,KH₂PO₄ and NaH₂PO₄. Suitable sweet taste improving inorganic acid saltadditives for improving the osmotic taste may comprise a molecularweight from about 58 to about 120.

In another embodiment, suitable sweet taste improving bitter additivesfor improving the osmotic taste of the natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener to be more sugar-like include, but are notlimited to, caffeine, quinine, urea, quassia, tannic acid, and naringin.

IV. Dairy Compositions

In one embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising a dairyproduct and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetenerin combination with at least one sweet taste improving nucleotideadditive chosen from inosine monophosphate (“IMP”), guanosinemonophosphate (“GMP”), adenosine monophosphate (“AMP”), cytosinemonophosphate (CMP), uracil monophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate,guanosine diphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate,uracil diphosphate, inosine triphosphate, guanosine triphosphate,adenosine triphosphate, cytosine triphosphate, uracil triphosphate,nucleosides thereof, nucleic acid bases thereof, or salts thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising a dairyproduct and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetenerin combination with at least one sweet taste improving carbohydrateadditive chosen from tagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose,cyclodextrin (e.g., α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin),maltodextrin (including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™),dextran, sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose,xylose, lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose,invert sugar, isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose,erythrose, deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose,psicose, turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine,fucose, glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive chosen from erythritol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol,xylitol, inositol, isomalt, propylene glycol, glycerol (glycerine),threitol, galactitol, palatinose, reduced isomalto-oligosaccharides,reduced xylo-oligosaccharides, reduced gentio-oligosaccharides, reducedmaltose syrup, or reduced glucose syrup.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving aminoacid additive chosen from aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, glutamicacid, proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine, alanine, valine,tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine, lysine, histidine,ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-, beta-, andgamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine, norvaline,sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingpolyamino acid additive chosen from poly-L-aspartic acid, poly-L-lysine(e.g., poly-L-α-lysine or poly-L-ε-lysine), poly-L-ornithine (e.g.,poly-L-α-ornithine or poly-L-ε-ornithine), poly-L-arginine, otherpolymeric forms of amino acids, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving sugaracid additive chosen from aldonic, uronic, aldaric, alginic, gluconic,glucuronic, glucaric, galactaric, galacturonic, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving organicacid additive chosen from C2-C30 carboxylic acids, substituted hydroxylC1-C30 carboxylic acids, benzoic acid, substituted benzoic acids (e.g.,2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid), substituted cinnamic acids, hydroxyacids,substituted hydroxybenzoic acids, substituted cyclohexyl carboxylicacids, tannic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, gluconicacid, glucoheptonic acids, glutaric acid, creatine, adipic acid,hydroxycitric acid, malic acid, fruitaric acid, fumaric acid, maleicacid, succinic acid, chlorogenic acid, salicylic acid, caffeic acid,bile acids, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, alginic acid, erythorbic acid,polyglutamic acid, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvinginorganic acid additive chosen from phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid,polyphosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, carbonic acid,sodium dihydrogen phosphate, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving bittercompound additive chosen from caffeine, quinine, urea, bitter orangeoil, naringin, quassia, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingflavorant additive chosen from vanillin, vanilla extract, mango extract,cinnamon, citrus, coconut, ginger, viridiflorol, almond, menthol, grapeskin extract, or grape seed extract. In another particular embodiment,the at least one sweet taste improving flavorant additive comprises aproprietary sweetener chosen from Döhler™ Natural Flavoring SweetnessEnhancer K14323 (Döhler™, Darmstadt, Germany), Symrise™ Natural FlavorMask for Sweeteners 161453 or 164126 (Symrise™, Holzminden, Germany),Natural Advantage™ Bitterness Blockers 1, 2, 9 or 10 (NaturalAdvantage™, Freehold, N.J., U.S.A.), or Sucramask™ (Creative ResearchManagement, Stockton, Calif., U.S.A.)

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving polymeradditive chosen from chitosan, pectin, pectic, pectinic, polyuronic,polygalacturonic acid, starch, food hydrocolloid or crude extractsthereof (e.g., gum acacia senegal, gum acacia seyal, carageenan),poly-L-lysine (e.g., poly-L-α-lysine or poly-L-ε-lysine), polyornithine(e.g., poly-L-α-ornithine or poly-ε-ornithine), polypropylene glycol,polyethylene glycol, poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether), polyarginine,polyaspartic acid, polyglutamic acid, polyethyleneimine, alginic acid,sodium alginate, propylene glycol alginate, sodiumpolyethyleneglycolalginate, sodium hexametaphosphate and its salts, orother cationic and anionic polymers.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving proteinhydrolysate additive chosen from bovine serum albumin (BSA), wheyprotein (including fractions or concentrates thereof such as 90% instantwhey protein isolate, 34% whey protein, 50% hydrolyzed whey protein, and80% whey protein concentrate), soluble rice protein, soy protein,protein isolates, protein hydrolysates, reaction products of proteinhydrolysates, glycoproteins, and/or proteoglycans containing amino acids(e.g., glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, theanine, asparagine,glutamine, arginine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, norvaline, methionine,proline, tyrosine, hydroxyproline, or the like).

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingsurfactant additive chosen from polysorbates (e.g., polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate (polysorbate 80), polysorbate 20, polysorbate 60),sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, dioctyl sulfosuccinate or dioctylsulfosuccinate sodium, sodium dodecyl sulfate, cetylpyridinium chloride,hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, sodium cholate, carbamoyl, cholinechloride, sodium glycocholate, sodium taurocholate, sodiumtaurodeoxycholate, lauric arginate, sodium stearoyl lactylate,lecithins, sucrose oleate esters, sucrose stearate esters, sucrosepalmitate esters, sucrose laurate esters, and other emulsifiers, or thelike.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingflavonoid additive chosen from catechins, polyphenols, rutins,neohesperidin, naringin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, or the like.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with ethanol.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingastringent compound additive chosen from tannic acid, europium chloride(EuCl₃), gadolinium chloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), alum,tannic acid, and polyphenols (e.g., tea polyphenol).

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvinginorganic salt additive chosen from sodium chloride, potassium chloride,sodium dihydrogen phosphate, sodium sulfate, potassium citrate, europiumchloride (EuCl₃), gadolinium chloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃),magnesium sulfate, magnesium phosphate, alum, magnesium chloride, mono-,di-, tri-basic sodium or potassium salts of phosphoric acid, salts ofhydrochloric acid, sodium carbonate, sodium bisulfate or sodiumbicarbonate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving organicsalt additive chosen from choline chloride, gluconic acid sodium salt,gluconic acid potassium salt, guanidine HCl, amiloride HCl, glucosamineHCl, monosodium glutamate (MSG), adenosine monophosphate salt, magnesiumgluconate, potassium tartrate, and sodium tartrate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingnucleotide additive, at least one sweet taste improving carbohydrateadditive, and at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive;wherein the at least one nucleotide additive is chosen from inosinemonophosphate (“IMP”), guanosine monophosphate (“GMP”), adenosinemonophosphate (“AMP”), cytosine monophosphate (CMP), uracilmonophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate, guanosine diphosphate,adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate, uracil diphosphate, inosinetriphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, cytosinetriphosphate, uracil triphosphate, nucleosides thereof, nucleic acidbases thereof, or salts thereof; wherein the at least one carbohydrateadditive is chosen from tagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose,cyclodextrin (e.g., α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin),maltodextrin (including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™),dextran, sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose,xylose, lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose,invert sugar, isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose,erythrose, deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose,psicose, turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine,fucose, glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup; and wherein the atleast one amino acid additive is chosen from aspartic acid, arginine,glycine, glutamic acid, proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine,alanine, valine, tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine,lysine, histidine, ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid(alpha-, beta-, and gamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine,norvaline, sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingnucleotide additive and at least one sweet taste improving carbohydrateadditive; wherein the at least one nucleotide additive is chosen frominosine monophosphate (“IMP”), guanosine monophosphate (“GMP”),adenosine monophosphate (“AMP”), cytosine monophosphate (CMP), uracilmonophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate, guanosine diphosphate,adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate, uracil diphosphate, inosinetriphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, cytosinetriphosphate, uracil triphosphate, nucleosides thereof, nucleic acidbases thereof, or salts thereof; and wherein the at least onecarbohydrate additive is chosen from tagatose, trehalose, galactose,rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g., α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, andγ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin (including resistant maltodextrins such asFibersol-2™), dextran, sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose,arabinose, xylose, lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose,maltose, invert sugar, isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose orisomaltulose, erythrose, deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose,erythrulose, xylulose, psicose, turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin,glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose, glucuronic acid, gluconic acid,glucono-lactone, abequose, galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides,isomalto-oligosaccharides (isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and thelike), xylo-oligosaccharides (xylotriose, xylobiose and the like),gentio-oligoscaccharides (gentiobiose, gentiotriose, genetiotetraose andthe like), sorbose, nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinoseoligosaccharides, fucose, fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose andthe like), maltotetraol, maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides(maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaoseand the like), lactulose, melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose,isomerized liquid sugars such as high fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g.,HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), coupling sugars, soybean oligosaccharides, orglucose syrup.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingnucleotide additive and at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive; wherein the at least one nucleotide additive is chosen frominosine monophosphate (“IMP”), guanosine monophosphate (“GMP”),adenosine monophosphate (“AMP”), cytosine monophosphate (CMP), uracilmonophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate, guanosine diphosphate,adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate, uracil diphosphate, inosinetriphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, cytosinetriphosphate, uracil triphosphate, nucleosides thereof, nucleic acidbases thereof, or salts thereof, and wherein the at least one polyoladditive is chosen from erythritol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol,lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt, propylene glycol, glycerol(glycerine), threitol, galactitol, palatinose, reducedisomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides, reducedgentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, or reduced glucosesyrup.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingnucleotide additive and at least one sweet taste improving amino acid;wherein the at least one nucleotide additive is chosen from inosinemonophosphate (“IMP”), guanosine monophosphate (“GMP”), adenosinemonophosphate (“AMP”), cytosine monophosphate (CMP), uracilmonophosphate (UMP), inosine diphosphate, guanosine diphosphate,adenosine diphosphate, cytosine diphosphate, uracil diphosphate, inosinetriphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, cytosinetriphosphate, uracil triphosphate, nucleosides thereof, nucleic acidbases thereof, or salts thereof, and wherein the at least one amino acidadditive is chosen from aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, glutamic acid,proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine, alanine, valine,tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine, lysine, histidine,ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-, beta-, andgamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine, norvaline,sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingcarbohydrate additive, at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive, and at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive;wherein the at least one carbohydrate additive is chosen from tagatose,trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g., α-cyclodextrin,β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin (including resistantmaltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran, sucrose, glucose, ribulose,fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose, lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose,idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar, isotrehalose, neotrehalose,palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose, deoxyribose, gulose, idose,talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose, turanose, cellobiose,amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose, glucuronic acid, gluconicacid, glucono-lactone, abequose, galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides,isomalto-oligosaccharides (isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and thelike), xylo-oligosaccharides (xylotriose, xylobiose and the like),gentio-oligoscaccharides (gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose andthe like), sorbose, nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinoseoligosaccharides, fucose, fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose andthe like), maltotetraol, maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides(maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaoseand the like), lactulose, melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose,isomerized liquid sugars such as high fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g.,HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), coupling sugars, soybean oligosaccharides, orglucose syrup; wherein the at least one polyol additive is chosen fromerythritol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol,isomalt, propylene glycol, glycerol (glycerine), threitol, galactitol,palatinose, reduced isomalto-oligosaccharides, reducedxylo-oligosaccharides, reduced gentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltosesyrup, or reduced glucose syrup; and wherein the at least one amino acidadditive is chosen from aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, glutamic acid,proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine, alanine, valine,tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine, lysine, histidine,ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-, beta-, andgamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine, norvaline,sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingcarbohydrate additive and at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive; wherein the at least one carbohydrate additive is chosen fromtagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g.,α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin(including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran,sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose,lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar,isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose,deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose,turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose,glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup; and wherein the atleast one polyol additive is chosen from erythritol, maltitol, mannitol,sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt, propylene glycol,glycerol (glycerine), threitol, galactitol, palatinose, reducedisomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides, reducedgentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, or reduced glucosesyrup.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingcarbohydrate additive and at least one sweet taste improving amino acidadditive; wherein the at least one carbohydrate additive is chosen fromtagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g.,α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin(including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran,sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose,lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar,isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose,deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose,turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose,glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup; and wherein the atleast one amino acid additive is chosen from aspartic acid, arginine,glycine, glutamic acid, proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine,alanine, valine, tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine,lysine, histidine, ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid(alpha-, beta-, and gamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine,norvaline, sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive and at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive;wherein the at least one polyol additive is chosen from erythritol,maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt,propylene glycol, glycerol (glycerin), threitol, galactitol, palatinose,reduced isomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides,reduced gentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, or reducedglucose syrup; and wherein the at least one amino acid additive ischosen from aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, glutamic acid, proline,threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine, alanine, valine, tyrosine,leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine, lysine, histidine, ornithine,methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-, beta-, andgamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine, norvaline,sarcosine, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive and at least one sweet taste improving inorganic salt additive;wherein the at least one polyol additive is chosen from erythritol,maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt,propylene glycol, glycerol (glycerin), threitol, galactitol, palatinose,reduced isomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides,reduced gentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, or reducedglucose syrup; and wherein the at least one inorganic salt additive ischosen from sodium chloride, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, sodiumsulfate, potassium citrate, europium chloride (EuCl₃), gadoliniumchloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), magnesium sulfate, alum,magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, mono-, di-, tri-basic sodium orpotassium salts of phosphoric acid, salts of hydrochloric acid, sodiumcarbonate, sodium bisulfate, or sodium bicarbonate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingcarbohydrate additive and at least one sweet taste improving inorganicsalt additive; wherein the at least one carbohydrate additive is chosenfrom tagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g.,α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin(including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran,sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose,lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar,isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose,deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose,turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose,glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup; and wherein the atleast one inorganic salt additive is chosen from sodium chloride, sodiumdihydrogen phosphate, sodium sulfate, potassium citrate, europiumchloride (EuCl₃), gadolinium chloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃),magnesium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, alum, magnesium chloride,potassium chloride, mono-, di-, tri-basic sodium or potassium salts ofphosphoric acid, salts of hydrochloric acid, sodium carbonate, sodiumbisulfate, or sodium bicarbonate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingcarbohydrate additive, at least one sweet taste improving amino acidadditive, and at least one sweet taste improving inorganic saltadditive; wherein the at least one carbohydrate additive is chosen fromtagatose, trehalose, galactose, rhamnose, cyclodextrin (e.g.,α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin), maltodextrin(including resistant maltodextrins such as Fibersol-2™), dextran,sucrose, glucose, ribulose, fructose, threose, arabinose, xylose,lyxose, allose, altrose, mannose, idose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar,isotrehalose, neotrehalose, palatinose or isomaltulose, erythrose,deoxyribose, gulose, idose, talose, erythrulose, xylulose, psicose,turanose, cellobiose, amylopectin, glucosamine, mannosamine, fucose,glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, glucono-lactone, abequose,galactosamine, beet oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides(isomaltose, isomaltotriose, panose and the like), xylo-oligosaccharides(xylotriose, xylobiose and the like), gentio-oligoscaccharides(gentiobiose, gentiotriose, gentiotetraose and the like), sorbose,nigero-oligosaccharides, palatinose oligosaccharides, fucose,fructooligosaccharides (kestose, nystose and the like), maltotetraol,maltotriol, malto-oligosaccharides (maltotriose, maltotetraose,maltopentaose, maltohexaose, maltoheptaose and the like), lactulose,melibiose, raffinose, rhamnose, ribose, isomerized liquid sugars such ashigh fructose corn/starch syrup (e.g., HFCS55, HFCS42, HFCS90), couplingsugars, soybean oligosaccharides, or glucose syrup; wherein the at leastone amino acid additive is chosen from aspartic acid, arginine, glycine,glutamic acid, proline, threonine, theanine, cysteine, cystine, alanine,valine, tyrosine, leucine, isoleucine, asparagine, serine, lysine,histidine, ornithine, methionine, carnitine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-,beta-, and gamma-isomers), glutamine, hydroxyproline, taurine,norvaline, sarcosine, or salts thereof; and wherein the at least oneinorganic salt additive is chosen from sodium chloride, sodium sulfate,potassium citrate, europium chloride (EuCl₃), gadolinium chloride(GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), magnesium phosphate, magnesiumsulfate, alum, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, mono-, di-,tri-basic sodium or potassium salts of phosphoric acid, salts ofhydrochloric acid, sodium carbonate, sodium bisulfate, or sodiumbicarbonate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving polyoladditive and at least one sweet taste improving polyamino acid additive;wherein the at least one polyol additive is chosen from erythritol,maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol, xylitol, inositol, isomalt,propylene glycol, glycerol (glycerin), threitol, galactitol, palatinose,reduced isomalto-oligosaccharides, reduced xylo-oligosaccharides,reduced gentio-oligosaccharides, reduced maltose syrup, or reducedglucose syrup; and wherein the at least one polyamino acid additive ischosen from poly-L-aspartic acid, poly-L-lysine (e.g., poly-L-α-lysineor poly-L-ε-lysine), poly-L-ornithine (e.g., poly-L-α-ornithine orpoly-L-ε-ornithine), poly-L-arginine, and other polymeric forms of aminoacids, or salts thereof.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener in combination with at least one sweet taste improving proteinor protein hydrolysate additive and at least one sweet taste improvinginorganic salt additive; wherein the at least one sweet taste improvingprotein or protein hydrolysate additive is chosen from bovine serumalbumin (BSA), whey protein (including fractions or concentrates thereofsuch as 90% instant whey protein isolate, 34% whey protein, 50%hydrolyzed whey protein, and 80% whey protein concentrate), soluble riceprotein, soy protein, protein isolates, protein hydrolysates, reactionproducts of protein hydrolysates, glycoproteins, and/or proteoglycanscontaining amino acids (e.g., glycine, alanine, serine, threonine,theanine, asparagine, glutamine, arginine, valine, isoleucine, leucine,norvaline, methionine, proline, tyrosine, hydroxyproline, or the like),collagen (e.g., gelatin), partially hydrolyzed collagen (e.g.,hydrolyzed fish collagen), and collagen hydrolysates (e.g., porcinecollagen hydrolysate); and wherein the at least one sweet tasteimproving inorganic salt additive is chosen from sodium chloride, sodiumsulfate, potassium citrate, europium chloride (EuCl₃), gadoliniumchloride (GdCl₃), terbium chloride (TbCl₃), magnesium phosphate,magnesium sulfate, alum, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, mono-,di-, tri-basic sodium or potassium salts of phosphoric acid, salts ofhydrochloric acid, sodium carbonate, sodium bisulfate, or sodiumbicarbonate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition is provided comprising adairy product and rebaudioside A in combination with at least onenatural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener other thanrebaudioside-A and at least one sweet taste improving composition.

In another particular embodiment, a dairy composition is providedcomprising a dairy product and rebaudioside A in combination with atleast one synthetic high-potency sweetener, wherein the at least onesynthetic high-potency sweetener functions as a sweet taste improvingcomposition. Non-limiting examples of suitable sweet taste improvingsynthetic sweetener additives include sucralose, potassium acesulfame,aspartame, alitame, saccharin, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, cyclamate,neotame,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methylbutyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester,N-[N-[3-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester, salts thereof, and the like.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, cyclamate, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is provided. In a particular embodiment, theat least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present in anamount from about 100 ppm to about 25,000 ppm of the composition, andthe at least one sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in anamount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of the composition. In a stillmore particular embodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving aminoacid additive is glycine or alanine, and the at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is erythritol.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving protein or protein hydrolysate additive is provided. In aparticular embodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving amino acidadditive is present in an amount from about 100 to about 15,000 ppm ofthe composition, and the at least one sweet taste improving protein orprotein hydrolysate additive is present in an amount from about 200 ppmto about 50,000 ppm of the composition. In a still more particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additiveis glycine or lysine, and the at least one sweet taste improving proteinor protein hydrolysate additive is a protein, a hydrolysate, or areaction product of a hydrolysate of a protein containing glycine,alanine, serine, leucine, valine, isoleucine, proline, or threonine.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysate additive and atleast one sweet taste improving polyol additive is provided. In aparticular embodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving protein orprotein hydrolysate additive is present in an amount from about 200 ppmto about 50,000 ppm of the composition, and at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is present in an amount from about 400 toabout 80,000 ppm of the composition. In a still more particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving protein or proteinhydrolysate additive is a protein, a hydrolysate, or a reaction productof a hydrolysate of proteins containing glycine, alanine, serine,leucine, valine, isoleucine, proline, or threonine, and the at least onesweet taste improving polyol additive is erythritol.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving carbohydrate additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving carbohydrate additiveis present in an amount from about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm of thecomposition. In a still more particular embodiment, the sweetenercomposition comprises REBA and glucose, sucrose, HFCS, or D-fructose inan amount from about 10,000 ppm to about 80,000 ppm of the composition.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving polyol additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving polyol additive ispresent in an amount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of thecomposition. In another particular embodiment, the at least one sweettaste improving polyol additive is present in an amount from about 5,000to about 60,000 ppm of the composition. Non-limiting examples include adairy product and a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A(REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guosweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate,aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame, incombination with propylene glycol, erythritol, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA) (with at least50% REBA in a steviol glycoside mixture) in combination with at leastone sweet taste improving polyol additive is provided. Desirably, the atleast one sweet taste improving polyol additive comprises erythritol. Ina particular embodiment of the sweetener composition, rebaudioside A ispresent in an amount from about 100 to about 3,000 ppm and theerythritol is present in an amount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm ofthe total sweetener composition. In another embodiment of the sweetenercomposition, rebaudioside A is present in an amount from about 100 toabout 3,000 ppm and the erythritol is present in an amount from about5,000 to about 40,000 ppm of the total sweetener composition. In stillanother embodiment of the sweetener composition, rebaudioside A ispresent in an amount from about 100 to about 3,000 ppm and theerythritol is present in an amount from about 10,000 to about 35,000 ppmof the total sweetener composition. In another particular embodiment ofthe sweetener composition, rebaudioside A and erythritol are present inthe sweetener composition in a ratio from about 1:4 to about 1:800,respectively. In yet another particular embodiment of the sweetenercomposition, rebaudioside A and erythritol are present in the sweetenercomposition in a ratio from about 1:20 to about 1:600, respectively;more particularly from about 1:50 to about 1:300; and still moreparticularly from about 1:75 to about 1:150.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,or curculin, in combination with at least one sweet taste improvingsynthetic sweetener additive is provided. In a particular embodiment,the dairy composition comprises a dairy product and a sweetenercomprising rebaudioside-A (REBA) in combination with saccharin oracesulfame potassium or other salts in an amount from about 10 ppm toabout 100 ppm of the composition.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving carbohydrate additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is provided. In a particular embodiment, theat least one sweet taste improving carbohydrate additive is present inan amount from about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm of the composition andat least one sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in anamount from about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of the composition.Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with tagatose, fructose orsucrose and erythritol.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving inorganic salt additive is provided. Non-limitingexamples include a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with NaCl, KCl, NaHSO₄.H2O, NaH₂PO₄, MgSO₄, KAl(SO₄)₂(alum), magnesium phosphate, magnesium chloride, KCl and KH₂PO₄, orother combinations thereof A particularly desirable embodiment comprisesa dairy product and a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A(REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guosweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate,aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame, incombination with a mixture of inorganic salt additives, such aschlorides, phosphates, and sulfates of sodium, magnesium, potassium, andcalcium (e.g., sodium chloride and potassium chloride; potassiumphosphate and potassium chloride; sodium chloride and sodium phosphate;calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate; magnesium chloride and magnesiumphosphate; and calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, and potassiumsulfate).

In a particular embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairyproduct and a sweetener composition comprises aspartame, acesfulamepotassium or other salts, and sucralose in combination with at least onesweet taste improving inorganic salt additive. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving inorganic saltadditive is present in an amount in the range of about 25 to about 5,000ppm of the composition. Non-limiting examples include a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising aspartame, acesulfame potassium,and sucralose in combination with magnesium chloride; a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising aspartame, acesulfame potassium,and sucralose in combination with magnesium sulfate; or a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising aspartame, acesulfame potassium,and sucralose in combination with magnesium sulfate and sodium chloride.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving organic acid salt additive is provided.Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with choline chloride in citratebuffer, D-gluconic acid sodium salt, guanidine HCl, D-glucosamine HCl,amiloride HCl, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving organic acid additive is provided. Non-limitingexamples include a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with fumaric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, citricacid, adipic acid, ascorbic acid, tannic acid, succinic acid, glutaricacid, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additiveis present in an amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of thecomposition. Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with glycine,L-alanine, L-serine, L-threonine, β-alanine, aminobutyric acid (alpha-,beta-, or gamma-isomers), L-aspartic acid, L-glutamic acid, L-lysine,glycine and L-alanine mixture, salt derivatives or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving surfactant additive is provided. Non-limitingexamples include a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium, cetylpyridiniumchloride, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, sucrose oleate,polysorbate 20, polysorbate 80, lecithin, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving polymer additive is provided. Non-limitingexamples include a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with cationic polymer such as polyethyleneimine,poly-L-lysine (e.g., poly-L-α-lysine or poly-L-ε-lysine), polyornithine(e.g., poly-L-α-ornithine or poly-ε-ornithine), chitosan, orcombinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving polymer additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is provided. In a particular embodiment, theat least one sweet taste improving polymer additive is present in anamount from about 30 to about 2,000 ppm of the composition, and the atleast one sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in an amountfrom about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of the composition. Non-limitingexamples include a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with a hydrocolloid, such as a gum acacia seyal, anderythritol.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving protein or protein hydrolysate additive isprovided. Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with bovine serum albumin (BSA),whey protein or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving inorganic acid salt additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additiveis present in an amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of thecomposition and the at least one sweet taste improving inorganic acidsalt additive is present in an amount from about 25 to about 5,000 ppmof the composition. Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with glycine andalum; a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with glycine and potassium chloride; a dairy product anda sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with glycine andsodium chloride; a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingREBA in combination with glycine, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, andpotassium chloride; and rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,morgroside IV, morgroside V, Lo Han Guo, monatin, curculin, sucralose,saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with glycine, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving carbohydrate additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving inorganic acid salt additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving carbohydrate additiveis present in an amount from about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm of thecomposition and the at least one sweet taste improving inorganic acidsalt additive is present in an amount from about 25 ppm to about 5,000ppm. Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with fructose, sucrose, orglucose and alum; a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with fructose, sucrose, or glucose and potassiumchloride; a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with fructose, sucrose, or glucose and sodium chloride; adairy product and a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A(REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guosweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate,aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame, incombination with fructose, sucrose, or glucose, potassium phosphate, andpotassium chloride; and a dairy product and a sweetener compositioncomprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV,mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose,saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, orneotame, in combination with fructose, sucrose, or glucose, sodiumchloride, and potassium chloride.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving bitter additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving inorganic salt additive is provided. A non-limiting exampleinclude a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with urea and sodium chloride.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving polyamino acid additive is provided. In a particularembodiment, the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additiveis present in an amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of thecomposition and the at least one sweet taste improving polyamino acidadditive is present in an amount from about 30 to about 2,000 ppm of thecomposition. Non-limiting examples include a dairy product and asweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with glycine andpoly-α-L-lysine; and a dairy product and a sweetener compositioncomprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV,mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose,saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, orneotame, in combination with glycine and poly-ε-L-lysine.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving organic acid additive is provided. In a particular embodiment,the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present inan amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of the composition and theat least one sweet taste improving organic acid additive is present inan amount from about 10 to about 5,000 ppm of the composition. Anon-limiting example includes a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with glycine and sodiumgluconate.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive and at least one sweet tasteimproving carbohydrate additive is provided. In a particular embodiment,the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present inan amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of the composition and theat least one sweet taste improving carbohydrate additive is present inan amount from about 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm of the composition. Anon-limiting example includes a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with L-alanine and fructose.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive, at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive, at least one sweet taste improving inorganicsalt additive, and at least one sweet taste improving organic acid saltadditive is provided. In a particular embodiment, the at least one sweettaste improving amino acid additive is present in an amount from about100 to about 25,000 ppm of the composition, the at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive is present in an amount from about 400 toabout 80,000 ppm of the composition, the at least one sweet tasteimproving inorganic salt additive is present in an amount from about 50to about 5,000 ppm of the composition, and the at least one sweet tasteimproving organic acid salt additive is present in an amount from about20 to about 10,000 ppm of the composition. A non-limiting exampleincludes a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with erythritol, glycine, KCl, KH₂PO₄, and cholinechloride.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive, at least one sweet tasteimproving carbohydrate additive, and at least one sweet taste improvingpolyol additive is provided. In a particular embodiment, the at leastone sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present in an amountfrom about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of the composition, the at least onesweet taste improving carbohydrate additive is present in an amount fromabout 1,000 to about 100,000 ppm of the composition, and the at leastone sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in an amount fromabout 400 to about 80,000 ppm of the composition. A non-limiting exampleincludes a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with L-alanine, fructose, and erythritol.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with at least onesweet taste improving amino acid additive, at least one sweet tasteimproving polyol additive, and at least one sweet taste improvinginorganic acid salt additive is provided. In a particular embodiment,the at least one sweet taste improving amino acid additive is present inan amount from about 100 to about 25,000 ppm of the composition, the atleast one sweet taste improving polyol additive is present in an amountfrom about 400 to about 80,000 ppm of the composition, and the at leastone sweet taste improving inorganic acid salt additive is present in anamount from about 25 to about 5,000 ppm of the composition. Anon-limiting example includes a dairy product and a sweetenercomposition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside,mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin,sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium orother salts, or neotame, in combination with erythritol, glycine, KCl,and KH₂PO₄.

In another embodiment, a dairy composition comprising a dairy productand a sweetener composition comprising rebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia,stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V, Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin,curculin, glycyrrihizin such as mono-ammonium glycyrrhizic acid salthydrate, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfamepotassium or other salts, or neotame, in combination with a sweet tasteimproving inorganic acid salt additive is provided. A non-limitingexample includes a dairy product and a sweetener composition comprisingrebaudioside-A (REBA), stevia, stevioside, mogroside IV, mogroside V,Luo Han Guo sweetener, monatin, curculin, glycyrrihizin such asmono-ammonium glycyrrhizic acid salt hydrate, sucralose, saccharin,cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame potassium or other salts, or neotame,in combination with sodium chloride.

The desired weight ratio of the natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener to sweet taste improving composition(s) in the sweetenercomposition will depend on the particular natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener, and the sweetness and other characteristicsdesired in the final product. Natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweeteners vary greatly in their potency, ranging from about 30 timesmore potent than sucrose to about 8,000 times more potent than sucroseon a weight basis. In general, the weight ratio of the natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener to sweet taste improving compositionmay for example range from range between 10,000:1 and 1:10,000; afurther non-limiting example may range from about 9,000:1 to about1:9,000; yet another example may range from about 8,000:1 to about1:8,000; a further example may range from about 7,000:1 to about1:7,000; another example may range from about 6,000:1 to about 1:6000;in yet another example may range from about 5,000:1 to about 1:5,000; inyet another example may range from about 4,000:1 to about 1:4,000; inyet another example may range from about 3,000:1 to about 1:3,000; inyet another example may range from about 2,000:1 to about 1:2,000; inyet another example may range from about 1,500:1 to about 1:1,500; inyet another example may range from about 1,000:1 to about 1:1,000; inyet another example may range from about 900:1 to about 1:900; in yetanother example may range from about 800:1 to about 1:800; in yetanother example may range from about 700:1 to about 1:700; in yetanother example may range from about 600:1 to about 1:600; in yetanother example may range from about 500:1 to about 1:500; in yetanother example may range from about 400:1 to about 1:400; in yetanother example may range from about 300:1 to about 1:300; in yetanother example may range from about 200:1 to about 1:200; in yetanother example may range from about 150:1 to about 1:150; in yetanother example may range from about 100:1 to about 1:100; in yetanother example may range from about 90:1 to about 1:90; in yet anotherexample may range from about 80:1 to about 1:80; in yet another examplemay range from about 70:1 to about 1:70; in yet another example mayrange from about 60:1 to about 1:60; in yet another example may rangefrom about 50:1 to about 1:50; in yet another example may range fromabout 40:1 to about 1:40; in yet another example may range from about30:1 to about 1:30; in yet another example may range from about 20:1 toabout 1:20; in yet another example may range from about 15:1 to about1:15; in yet another example may range from about 10:1 to about 1:10; inyet another example may range from about 9:1 to about 1:9; in yetanother example may range from about 8:1 to about 1:8; in yet anotherexample may range from about 7:1 to about 1:7; in yet another examplemay range from about 6:1 to about 1:6; in yet another example may rangefrom about 5:1 to about 1:5; in yet another example may range from about4:1 to about 1:4; in yet another example may range from about 3:1 toabout 1:3; in yet another example may range from about 2:1 to about 1:2;and in yet another example may be about 1:1; depending on the particularnatural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener selected.

It is contemplated that the combination of at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener to at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition may be carried out in any pH range that does not materiallyor adversely affect the taste of the sweetener composition. Anon-limiting example of the pH range may be from about 2 to about 8. Afurther example includes a pH range from about 2 to about 5.

One of ordinary skill in the art may combine at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener, at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition, and sweetenble composition in any manner. For example, atleast one natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetener may be addedto the sweetenble composition before the at least one sweet tasteimproving composition. In another example, at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener may be added to the sweetenblecomposition after the at least one sweet taste improving composition. Inyet another example, at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener may be added to the sweetenble composition simultaneously withthe at least one sweet taste improving composition.

In yet another embodiment, at least one natural and/or synthetichigh-potency sweetener may be combined with the at least one sweet tasteimproving composition prior to being added to a sweetenble composition.For example, the at least one natural and/or synthetic high-potencysweetener may be in a pure, diluted, or concentrated form as a liquid(e.g., solution), solid (e.g., powder, chunk, pellet, grain, block,crystalline, or the like), suspension, gas state, or combinationsthereof may be contacted with the at least one sweet taste improvingcomposition which may be in a pure, diluted, or concentrated form as aliquid (e.g., solution), solid (e.g., powder, chunk, pellet, grain,block, crystalline, or the like), suspension, gas state, or combinationsthereof before both are contacted with a sweetenble composition. In yetanother embodiment, when there are more than one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweeteners or more than one sweet taste improvingcomposition in the sweeteneable composition, each component of thesweetenable composition may be added simultaneously, in an alternatingpattern, in a random pattern, or any other pattern.

Generally, the amount of natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweetenerpresent in a sweetened composition varies widely depending on thedesired sweetness. Those of ordinary skill in the art can readilydiscern the appropriate amount of sweetener to put in the sweetenedcomposition. In a particular embodiment, the at least one natural and/orsynthetic high-potency sweetener is present in the sweetened compositionin an amount in the range of about 1 to about 5,000 ppm of the sweetenedcomposition and the at least one sweet taste improving composition ispresent in the sweetened composition in an amount in the range of about0.1 to about 100,000 ppm of the sweetened composition.

In accordance with particular embodiments, suitable amounts of naturalhigh-potency sweeteners for sweetened compositions comprise amounts inthe range from about 100 ppm to about 3,000 ppm for rebaudioside A; fromabout 50 ppm to about 3,000 ppm for stevia; from about 50 ppm to about3,000 ppm for stevioside; from about 50 ppm to about 3,000 ppm formogroside IV; from about 50 ppm to about 3,000 ppm for mogroside V; fromabout 50 ppm to about 3,000 ppm for Luo Han Guo sweetener; from about 5ppm to about 300 ppm for monatin, from about 5 ppm to about 200 ppm forthaumatin; and from about 50 ppm to about 3,000 ppm for mono-ammoniumglycyrrhizic acid salt hydrate.

In accordance with particular embodiments, suitable amounts of synthetichigh-potency sweeteners for sweetened compositions comprise a range fromabout 1 ppm to about 60 ppm for alitame; from about 10 ppm to about 600ppm for aspartame; from about 1 ppm to about 20 ppm for neotame; fromabout 10 ppm to about 500 ppm for acesulfame potassium; from about 50ppm to about 5,000 ppm for cyclamate; from about 10 ppm to about 500 ppmfor saccharin; from about 5 ppm to about 250 ppm for sucralose; fromabout 1 ppm to about 20 ppm forN-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester; from about 1 ppm to about 20 ppm forN-[N-[3-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-methylbutyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester; and from about 1 ppm to about 20 ppm forN-[N-[3-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)propyl]-L-α-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine1-methyl ester.

V. EXAMPLES

The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples,which are not to be construed in any way as imposing limitations uponthe scope thereof. On the contrary, it is to be clearly understood thatresort may be had to various other embodiments, modifications, andequivalents thereof which, after reading the description therein, maysuggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the present invention and/or the scope of the appendedclaims. Unless otherwise specified, %'s are by weight.

Example Set A Example A1 Milk

A dairy composition comprises a dairy product, at least one high-potencysweetener, and at least one sweet taste improving composition. The dairyproduct comprises 2% milk obtained from a commercial source. The atleast one high-potency sweetner is provided at a concentration of 450ppm and comprises substantially pure rebaudioside A having 98.91 wt. %rebadioside A, 0.06 wt. % stevioside, 0.03 wt. % rebaudioside C, 0.12wt. % unknown # 1, 0.13 wt. % unknown # 2, 0.1 wt. % rebaudioside D,0.49 wt. % rebaudioside B, and 0.03 wt. % steviolbioside. The at leastone sweet taste improving composition comprises erythritol and isprovided at a concentration of 35,000 ppm.

Example A2 Ice Cream

A dairy composition comprises a mixture of cream, high-potencysweetener, and a sweet taste improving composition. The high-potencysweetener comprises substantially pure rebaudioside A having 98.91 wt. %rebadioside A, 0.06 wt. % stevioside, 0.03 wt. % rebaudioside C, 0.12wt. % unknown # 1, 0.13 wt. % unknown # 2, 0.1 wt. % rebaudioside D,0.49 wt. % rebaudioside B, and 0.03 wt. % steviolbioside. The sweettaste improving composition comprises erythritol. The high potencysweetener is provided at a concentration of 450 ppm and the sweet tasteimproving composition is provided at a concentration of 35,000 ppm.After mixing, the composition is cooled below its freezing point whilestirring to produce a frozen ice cream composition.

Example A3 Yogurt

A dairy composition is formed by inoculating pasteurized milk with abacterial culture and incubating between 104 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit.The fermentation of lactose by the bacteria produces lactic acid. Themixture is allowed to incubate until the pH drops to about 5.0, at whichpoint the mixture begins to form a yogurt gel. A high-potency sweetenercomprising substantially pure rebaudioside A having 98.91 wt. %rebadioside A, 0.06 wt. % stevioside, 0.03 wt. % rebaudioside C, 0.12wt. % unknown # 1, 0.13 wt. % unknown # 2, 0.1 wt. % rebaudioside D,0.49 wt. % rebaudioside B, and 0.03 wt. % steviolbioside is provided ata concentration of 450 ppm. A sweet taste improving compositioncomprising erythritol is added to the yogurt at a concentration of35,000 ppm. After the addition of the sweetener, the mixture isrefrigerated in order to stop the fermentation and growth of thebacteria and to firm the yogurt gel. The process of forming yogurt iswell known to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a processfor forming yogurt is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,186 to Streiff etal.

The following Examples B1-B3, C1-C3, D, E1-E3, and F illustrate methodsof making purified rebaudioside A in accordance with particularembodiments of this invention:

Example Set B

TABLE 2 Summary of Examples B1–3 Crude Solvent HPLC Rebaudioside AEthanol Methanol Water Heating Drying Yield Purity (g) (95%)(mL)(99%)(mL) (mL) T (° C.) T (° C.) (g) (wt/wt %) B1 400 1200 400 320 50 50130 98.9 B2 100 320 120 50 30–40 60 72 98.3 B3 50 160 60 25 ~30  60 27.398.2

Example B1

Crude rebaudioside A (77.4% purity) mixture was obtained from acommercial source. The impurities (6.2% stevioside, 5.6% rebaudioside C,0.6% rebauiodioside F, 1.0% other steviolglycosides, 3.0% rebaudiosideD, 4.9% rebaudioside B, 0.3% steviolbioside) were identified andquantified using HPLC on dry basis, moisture content 4.7%.

Crude rebaudioside A (400 g), ethanol (95%, 1200 mL), methanol (99%, 400mL) and water (320 mL) were combined and heated to 50° C. for 10minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 16 hours. The whitecrystals were filtered and washed twice with ethanol (2×200 mL, 95%) anddried in a vacuum oven at 50° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure(20 mm).

The final composition of substantially pure rebaudioside A (130 g)comprised 98.91% rebaudioside A, 0.06% stevioside, 0.03% rebaudioside C,0.12% rebaudioside F, 0.13% other steviolglycosides, 0.1% rebaudiosideD, 0.49% rebaudioside B and 0.03% steviolbioside, all by weight.

Example B2

Crude rebaudioside A (80.37%) was obtained from a commercial source. Theimpurities (6.22% stevioside, 2.28% rebaudioside C, 0.35% Dulcoside,0.78% rebaudioside F, 0.72% other steviolglycosides, 3.33% rebaudiosideB, 0.07% steviolbioside) were identified by HPLC on dry basis, moisturecontent 3.4%.

Crude rebaudioside A (100 g), ethanol (95%, 320 mL), methanol (99%, 120mL) and water (50 mL) were combined and heated to 30-40° C. for 10minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 16 hours. The whitecrystals were filtered and washed twice with ethanol (2×50 mL, 95%). Thewet filter cake (88 g) was slurried in ethanol (95%, 1320 mL) for 16hours, filtered, washed with ethanol (95%, 2×100 mL) and dried in avacuum oven at 60° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure (20 mm).

The final composition of substantially pure rebaudioside A (72 g)comprised 98.29% rebaudioside A, 0.03% stevioside, 0.02% rebaudioside C,0.17% rebaudioside F, 0.06% rebaudioside D and 1.09% rebaudioside B.Steviolbioside was not detected by HPLC.

Example B3

Crude rebaudioside A (80.37%) was obtained from a commercial source. Theimpurities (6.22% stevioside, 2.28% rebaudioside C, 0.35% Dulcoside,0.78% rebaudioside F, 0.72% other steviolglycosides, 3.33% rebaudiosideB, 0.07% steviolbioside) were identified by HPLC on dry basis, moisturecontent 3.4%.

Crude rebaudioside A (50 g), ethanol (95%, 160 mL), methanol (99%, 60mL) and water (25 mL) were combined and heated to approximately 30° C.for 10 minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 16 hours.The white crystals were filtered and washed twice with ethanol (2×25 mL,95% ). The wet filter cake (40 g) was slurried in methanol (99%, 600 mL)for 16 hours, filtered, washed with methanol (99%, 2×25 mL) and dried ina vacuum oven at 60° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure (20 mm).

The final composition of substantially pure rebaudioside A (27.3g)comprised 98.22% rebaudioside A, 0.04% stevioside, 0.04% rebaudioside C,0.18% rebaudioside F, 0.08% rebaudioside D and 1.03% rebaudioside B.Steviolbioside was not detected by HPLC.

Example Set C

TABLE 3 Summary of Examples C1–3 Solvent Crude Organic HPLC RebaudiosideEthanol Co-solvent Water Yield Purity A (g) (95%)(mL) (mL) (mL) WashSolvent (g) (%) C1 5 15 Methanol (6) 3.5 EtOH/MeOH 2.6 >99 (3:1 v/v) C25 15 Methanol (5) 4 EtOH/MeOH 2.3 >99 (3:1 v/v) C3 5 16 Methanol (6) 2.5*EtOH/MeOH 3.2 >98 (8:3 v/v)

Example C1

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (80.37% purity, 5 g), ethanol (95%, 15mL), methanol (5 mL) and water (3.5 mL) were combined and heated toreflux for 10 minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 16hours while stirring. The white crystalline product was filtered, washedtwice with ethanol:methanol (5.0 mL, 3:1, v/v) mixture and dried in avacuum oven at 50° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure (20 mm) toyield 2.6 g of purified product (>99% by HPLC).

Example C2

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (80.37% purity, 5 g), ethanol (95%, 15mL), methanol (5 mL) and water (4.0 mL) were combined and heated toreflux for 10 minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 16hours while stirring. The white crystalline product was filtered, washedtwice with ethanol:methanol (5.0 mL, 3:1, v/v) mixture and dried in avacuum oven at 50° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure (20 mm) toyield 2.3 g of purified product (>99% by HPLC).

Example C3

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (80.37% purity, 5 g), ethanol (95%, 16mL), methanol (6 mL) and water (2.5 mL) were combined and heated toreflux for 10 minutes. The clear solution was cooled to 22° C. for 2hours. During this time, crystals started to appear. The mixture isstirred at room temperature for 16 hours. The white crystalline productwas filtered, washed twice with ethanol:methanol (5.0 mL, 8:3, v/v)mixture and dried in a vacuum oven at 50° C. for 16-24 hours underreduced pressure (20 mm) to yield 3.2 g of purified product (>98% byHPLC).

Example D

TABLE 4 Summary of Example D Solvent Crude Organic HPLC RebaudiosideSolvent Water Wash Yield Purity A (g) (mL) (mL) Solvent (g) (%) D 50EtOH (160) 40 EtOH 19.8 99.5

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (80.37% purity, 50 g), ethanol (95%,160 mL) and water (40 mL) were combined and heated to reflux for 30minutes. The mixture was then allowed to cool to ambient temperature for16-24 hours. The white crystalline product was filtered, washed twicewith ethanol (95%, 25 mL), and dried in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for16-24 hours under reduced pressure (20 mm) to yield 19.8 g of purifiedproduct (99.5% by HPLC).

Example Set E

TABLE 5 Summary of Examples E1–3 Crude Organic Methanol HPLCRebaudioside Ethanol Co-solvent Water Slurry Yield Purity A (g)(95%)(mL) (mL) (mL) (mL) (g) (%) E1 50 160 Methanol 25 200 12.7 >97 (60)E2 50 160 Methanol 25 300 18.6 >97 (60) E3 50 160 Methanol 25 35022.2 >97 (60)

Example E1

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (41% purity, 50 g), ethanol (95%, 160mL), methanol (99.8%, 60 mL) and water (25 mL) were combined by stirringat 22° C. A white product crystallized out in 5-20 hours. The mixturewas stirred for additional 48 hours. The white crystalline product wasfiltered and washed twice with ethanol (95%, 25 mL). The wet cake ofwhite crystalline product then was slurried in methanol (99.8%, 200 mL)for 16 hours, filtered, washed twice with methanol (99.8%, 25 mL), anddried in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure(20 mm) to give 12.7 g of purified product (>97% by HPLC).

Example E2

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (48% purity, 50 g), ethanol (95%, 160mL), methanol (99.8%, 60 mL) and water (25 mL) was combined by stirringat 22° C. The white product crystallized out in 3-6 hours. The mixturewas stirred for additional 48 hours. The white crystalline product wasfiltered and washed twice with ethanol (95%, 25 mL). The wet cake ofwhite crystalline product then was slurried in methanol (99.8%, 300 mL)for 16 hours, filtered, washed twice with methanol (99.8%, 25 mL) anddried in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for 16-24 hours under reduced pressure(20 mm) to give 18.6 g of purified product (>97% by HPLC).

Example E3

A mixture of crude rebaudioside A (55% purity, 50 g), ethanol (95%, 160mL), methanol (99.8%, 60 mL) and water (25 mL) was combined by stirringat 22° C. The white product crystallized out in 15-30 minutes. Themixture was stirred for an additional 48 hours. The white crystallineproduct was filtered and washed twice with ethanol (95%, 25 mL). The wetcake of white crystalline product was slurried in methanol (99.8%, 350mL) for 16 hours, filtered, washed twice with methanol (99.8%, 25 mL)and dried in a vacuum oven at 60° C. for 16-24 hours under reducedpressure (20 mm) to give 22.2 g of purified product (>97% by HPLC).

Example F

A solution of rebaudioside A (>97% pure by HPLC ) was prepared in doubledistilled water (12.5 gm in 50 mL, 25% concentration) by stirring themixture at 40° C. for 5 minutes. An amorphous form of rebaudioside A wasformed by immediately using the clear solution for spray drying with theLab-Plant spray drier SD-04 instrument (Lab-Plant Ltd., West Yorkshire,U.K.). The solution was fed through the feed pump into the nozzleatomizer which atomized it into a spray of droplets with the help of aconstant flow of nitrogen/air. Moisture was evaporated from the dropletsunder controlled temperature conditions (about 90 to about 97° C.) andairflow conditions in the drying chamber and resulted in the formationof dry particles. This dry powder (11-12 g, H₂O 6.74%) was dischargedcontinuously from the drying chamber and was collected in a bottle. Thesolubility in water at room temperature was determined to be >35.0%.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilledin the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, mayreadily conceive of alterations to, variations of, and equivalents tothese embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present inventionshould be assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalentsthereof.

1. A dairy composition comprising at least one dairy product,rebaudioside A and a polyol selected from the group consisting oferythritol, maltitol, xylitol or combinations thereof, wherein: therebaudioside A has a purity greater than about 95% by weight on a drybasis; the weight ratio of the rebaudioside A to the polyol is about 1:4to about 1:800; and the at least one dairy product is selected from thegroup consisting of milk, cream, sour cream, creme fraiche, buttermilk,cultured buttermilk, milk powder, condensed milk, evaporated milk,butter, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, ice cream, frozencustard, frozen yogurt, gelato, via, piima, filmjolk, kajmak, kephir,viili, kumiss, airag, ice milk, casein, ayran, lassi, khoa, orcombinations thereof.
 2. The dairy composition of claim 1, wherein therebaudioside A is present in an amount from about 100 ppm to about 3,000ppm.
 3. The dairy composition of claim 1, wherein the polyol is presentin an amount from about 5,000 ppm to about 40,000 ppm.
 4. The dairycomposition of claim 1, further comprising at least one steviolglycosideselected from the group consisting of rebaudioside B, rebaudioside C,rebaudioside E, rebaudioside F, dulcoside A, dulcoside B, stevioside,steviolbioside or combinations thereof.
 5. The dairy composition ofclaim 1, wherein the rebaudioside A is substantially free ofsteviolbioside as measured by HPLC.
 6. The dairy composition of claim 1,wherein the rebaudioside A has a rate of dissolution greater than about30% /5 minutes in water at 25° C.
 7. The dairy composition of claim 1,wherein the weight ratio of the rebaudioside A to the polyol is about1:75 to about 1:150.
 8. The dairy composition of claim 1, furthercomprising at least one sweet taste improving composition selected fromthe group consisting of carbohydrates, amino acids and theircorresponding salts, polyamino acids and their corresponding salts,sugar acids and their corresponding salts, organic acids, inorganicacids, organic salts, inorganic salts, bitter compounds, flavorants,astringent compounds, polymers, proteins, protein hydrolysates,surfactants, emulsifiers, flavonoids, alcohols, synthetic sweeteners orcombinations thereof.
 9. The dairy composition of claim 1, furthercomprising a bulk sweetener.
 10. The dairy composition of claim 1,wherein the dairy product is present in the dairy composition in anamount in the range of about 50 to about 99.9 weight percent of thedairy composition.
 11. The dairy composition of claim 1, wherein thepolyol is erythritol.
 12. A dairy composition comprising at least onedairy product, rebaudioside A and a polyol selected from the groupconsisting of erythritol, maltitol, xylitol or combinations thereof,wherein: the rebaudioside A has a purity greater than about 80% byweight on a dry basis; the weight ratio of the rebaudioside A to thepolyol is about 1:4 to about 1:800, and the at least one dairy productis selected from the group consisting of milk, cream, sour cream, cremefraiche, buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, milk powder, condensed milk,evaporated milk, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt,ice cream, frozen custard, frozen yogurt, gelato, via, piima, filmjolk,kajmak, kephir, viili, kumiss, airag, ice milk, casein, ayran, lassi,khoa, or combinations thereof.
 13. The diary composition of claim 12,wherein the rebaudioside A has a purity greater than about 90% by weighton a dry basis.
 14. The dairy composition of claim 12, wherein thepolyol is erythritol.
 15. The dairy composition of claim 12, furthercomprising at least one sweet taste improving composition selected fromthe group consisting of carbohydrates, amino acids and theircorresponding salts, polyamino acids and their corresponding salts,sugar acids and their corresponding salts, organic acids, inorganicacids, organic salts, inorganic salts, bitter compounds, flavorants,astringent compounds, polymers, proteins, protein hydrolysates,surfactants, emulsifiers, flavonoids, alcohols, synthetic sweeteners orcombinations thereof.